


50 Shades of Bureaucracy: Endings

by vol_ctrl



Series: 50 Shades of Bureaucracy [3]
Category: Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Alternating, Angel Corruption, Angry Gabriel (Good Omens), Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, BDSM Scene, Basically an AU now, Beelzebub Has a Penis (Good Omens), Beelzebub Has a Vulva (Good Omens), Beelzebub is a BAMF, Beelzebub is a softie, Betrayal, Bottom Gabriel, Breakfast in Bed, Communication, Consensual Non-Consent, Divinity Kink, Dom Drop, Dom Gabriel, Dom/sub, Doomed Relationship, Double Agents, Double Penetration, Drunk Sex, Edgeplay, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Enochian Speaking, Established Beelzebub/Gabriel, Established Relationship, Face-Sitting, Fallen Angel Gabriel (Good Omens), Fallen Angels, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Smut, Gabriel Has A Vulva (Good Omens), Gabriel Has a Penis (Good Omens), Gabriel is a BAMF, He/Him Pronouns for Gabriel, Light non-con elements, M/M, Messenger Gabriel, On Our Own Side, Overstimulation, Post-Apocalypse, Power of Words, Praise Kink, Pre-Apocalypse, Protective Gabriel (Good Omens), Punished Gabriel, Reluctant Betrayal, Sex Toys, Sexual Roleplay, Sub Beelzebub, Switching, Take Two, Teasing, The Great Plan (Good Omens), The Ineffable Plan (Good Omens), They/Them Pronouns for Beelzebub (Good Omens), Time Skips, Twenty Years Later, demoted gabriel, soft hours, yes both
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-12-06
Packaged: 2020-12-27 18:54:36
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 51,284
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21123581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vol_ctrl/pseuds/vol_ctrl
Summary: Twenty years have passed since the relationship between the Lord of Hell Beelzebub and the Archangel Gabriel was discovered. Gabriel has been demoted to a mere Messenger of God on Earth, and Beelzebub has been tasked by Lucifer himself to make him Fall and join the ranks of Hell. Holy wars abound in the wake of the failed Armageddon, keeping Heaven and Hell busy as Beelzebub slowly corrupts Gabriel, against their own will. Is there any way they can save their angel from Falling?





	1. A Visit from the Boss

**Author's Note:**

> It's finally here!! Part three.
> 
> Thank you all for following along and continuing to encourage and devour this tale even as it spun wildly out of control. There's gonna be a lot of angst, a lot of smut, some harrowing times, but plenty of soft hours to soothe that hurt.
> 
> Without further ago, welcome to **ENDINGS**

“You’ve really made a project of this, haven’t you?” The playful lilt made the chill of the voice terrible to hear.

“My King.” Beelzebub rose slowly to receive Lucifer, suppressing a shiver.

“You’ve been enjoying yourself…” Lucifer mused as he passed slowly through Beelzebub’s Earthly residence. He wore his beauty annointed by a crown, almost too magnificent to gaze upon. His very presence sucked in the sparse light of the place, a gleaming, horrible tear in the world. “Not too much, I hope?”

A loveless smile spread across Beelzebub’s face. “The work never endzz.”

“You always did have a penchant for the temptations of lust. And gluttony. I cannot fault you for that.” The Infernal King walked with a dread purpose incompatible with the mundane trappings of the mortal-style residence, every footfall a threat.

“Gabriel has proven a powerful will to break. Hizz loyalty to the divine is strong.”

“You’ve been so… patient.” Lucifer considered Beelzebub a moment with crimson eyes narrowed. “Twenty years? I thought you more capable than that, Beelzebub.”

“Does my work displeazze you, my King?” That crimson gaze twisted their insides not with fear, but an unshakable desire to provide whatever it desired.

“Hardly, darling. Hardly.” Lucifer considered a sculpture of tormented rebar upon the wall. “Only the Dark Council grows restless.”

“Do they not have enough to keep themselvezz bizzy with?” Beelzebub had seen to it that they did.

“Oh, there’s plenty with all the holy wars going on up here on Earth. The dissolution of the United States, the anarchy spreading into South America. Plenty of work. But you know…” Lucifer finished his tour of the room to draw close to Beelzebub and lifted their chin with ice-cold fingers. “They long for a powerful Fallen angel to invigorate the ranks.”

“Yezz, my King.” Beelzebub swallowed. “I am aware.”

“So you will deliver.”

Beelzebub smiled. “In short order, my King. The procezz haz already begun.”

“I noticed. The Dark Council complains of your tardiness, but…” Lucifer let his fingers brush down Beelzebub’s lapel. “I understand Gabriel well. He is as loyal as he is a fool.” A blood-curdling smile spread across the Infernal King’s lips.

“He will fall before the end of the year, my King.”

“Oh?” Lucifer mused with pleasure. “So you are in the final stages.”

“Yezz,” Beelzebub buzzed with promise.

“You’ve done well to intercept the divine messages. He suspects nothing?”

“As you zzay, he izz a fool,” Beelzebub said lightly.

“Keep up the good work, darling. I imagine we’ll be seeing each other again soon.”

Beelzebub bowed deeply to Lucifer as the Infernal King vanished in a caress of shadow. The Lord of Hell returned their vacant gaze to the dismal view out the window: broken eyed windows staring back, stained facades, crumbling pavement. This neighborhood had always been a slum, but it had fallen into further neglect in these war-torn years. The ragged residents shambling nervously on the streets reminded Beelzebub of Hell. Suffering and despair above, so too Below.

The first year after Gabriel’s punishment by the Ultor had passed quickly for Beelzebub in Hell, broken up by only two additional visits. Their time away had the added benefit of setting a precedent for how often they would visit Gabriel. The Lord of Hell kept themself busy in the following years--started a new campaign of religious unrest to make up for the failure of Armageddon. Holy wars were always a good way to cheer up the demons, make them feel useful after they were robbed of their Great War.

It kept Gabriel busy, as well, as the appointed Messenger of God. He took as much pride in his new line of work as he had in his old. He was rarely still or in one locale for long. Because of the restrictions of his punishment, he spent a lot of time in transit. Instead of dreading the endless flights and changing time-zones, he seemed to get a kick out of flying the human way. Gave him time to listen to audiobooks and further familiarize himself with human culture, he’d told Beelzebub. Beelzebub told him he was going native.

Beelzebub didn’t miss him. It was better to keep reiterating that to themself. Both Gabriel and themself agreed it was better to limit their meetings. Even if Heaven and Hell were aware of their relationship, there was no need to tempt fate. The less they saw of him, the better. The less they saw of him, the longer they could draw out delivering him to the Dark Council. The less they saw of him, the less they would corrupt his Heavenly essence, bit by bit. So slowly Heaven or even Gabriel himself wouldn’t see it coming.

But it would happen. Very soon, now. Beelzebub would strike the final blow in Hell, reveal to him that his messages from Heaven had actually been laced with malicious intent. Very soon Gabriel would know that the growth of the holy wars, the destruction, chaos, and mass graves over the span of two decades, thrived by his word.

The guilt would destroy him, the unintentional double-agent, the blind fool.

For now, though, they could see him. The scales had not tipped just yet. For now, Beelzebub had time. Gabriel had time. The demon drifted away from the window and touched their hellphone screen to check the time. Gabriel would be landing soon, back in England.

Beelzebub wondered what his wings would look like, now. The Lord of Hell exclusively groomed them--not because they particularly enjoyed the task, but to keep Gabriel from seeing the growing patches of gray, the few black feathers dark as void in his previously pristine plumage.

His Fall had already begun. It was inevitable. Ineffable. 


	2. A Visit to the South Downs

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel returns to England from his latest jaunt spreading the word of God in a warzone, and visits his friend Aziraphale.

A dark, smoggy morning saw Gabriel touch down on familiar English soil. It was a relief to be back in England after two months non-stop criss-crossing over eastern Europe in a sad state of chaos and disrepair. The flight--on an airplane, the mortal way--served as much-needed time to slough off the stress and pressure of his messengerial work. He had become fond of human air travel, despite the inherent dangers and the minor inconveniences abound. Flying using his wings was much too conspicuous with limited powers of masking his presence, not to mention taxing when he couldn’t simply miracle himself from one place to another whenever he pleased. Besides, his wings still carried an ache, a phantom weight where six had been pared down to two.

There was a routine to human air travel. The series of steps to merely get from airport to plane put him in the mindset of the task ahead before he boarded the plane to his next destination, and gave him time to decompress as he returned home. He had thought it funny to consider England ‘home’ after so many millennia on the ethereal plane, but in the twenty years hence, it had a cozy feeling, a familiarity. Anywhere on Earth still paled in comparison to Heaven--well,  _ almost  _ anywhere. Gabriel would be hard pressed to say he preferred Heaven over anywhere a certain demon waited for him.

By the time he hired a car to take him from the airport, the serious lines of his face had smoothed and softened.

“Where to?” the driver asked.

Gabriel sighed, glad to hear a familiar accent. He had grown accustomed to the vast variety of human languages and accents in his never ending work across all of God’s creation, but none were quite so familiar as the English. “East Sussex. Seaford, if you would.”

Despite the tumult of the world as a whole, London had, as always, kept carrying on. Although his high-rise penthouse was viewed as a gaudy remnant of the arguably peaceful times decades prior, it had remained largely untouched by the occasional terror that visited England’s capitol. Gabriel suspected there may have been some demonic influence that dissuaded any harm to come to it.

His first stop was not to his own abode, but to the place that always eased his transition back to civilian life. A little cottage nestled near the chalk cliffs of the South Downs always offered him refuge, albeit with mixed hospitality from its ethereal and occult occupants.

“Gabriel!” Aziraphale greeted his former boss warmly. “How was the trip? Not too taxing, I hope.”

“Hi.” Gabriel strode into the cottage and removed his sunglasses--they really completed the jet-setter aesthetic, he thought. “Not too bad this time. The airport in Bucharest even had a tarmac.”

Aziraphale’s smile dimmed. “Oh, dear. Things these days are really so dire.”

Gabriel shrugged off his coat and hung it on the rack by the door. He waltzed into the sitting room comfortably. “Crowley,” he acknowledged the demon with a forced smile. Despite his thriving friendship with Aziraphale, he and Crowley had not made such head-way in their relationship.

Crowley glanced up from his gardening magazine. “Gabriel. Didn’t get blown up, I see.”

“Thank God.”

“I don’t thank her for much,” Crowley groused and put his magazine aside. He stood and crossed paths with Aziraphale, gave him a kiss on the cheek, then headed on out the back door. “I’ll be out in the garden,” he called over his shoulder.

Aziraphale smiled gently at his retreating back, then apologetically at Gabriel. “Nice of you to drop by,” he said, clearing the air. “It’s out of your way.”

“No bother,” Gabriel sighed. “It’s nice to be back in England. How could I resist visiting my favorite cottage in the country?”

Aziraphale brightened. “You’re too kind.” He bustled off toward the kitchen. “I’ll make tea. Or would you prefer coffee?” He used a minor miracle to get the kettle on, but let it boil the old-fashioned way on the stove.

“No. England calls for proper tea,” Gabriel insisted. “What with all the shortages and rationing most places, you can’t get a decent cup of anything.”

“Dreadful, really. How do you cope, always flying into a new warzone?” Aziraphale asked as he wrung his hands.

“I’m a warrior for God!” Gabriel said proudly. “I do my best work under pressure. Knowing that I’m helping and giving faith to those in need is all the thanks I could want.”

Aziraphale smiled. “It’s very brave of you.”

“No bravery involved. Only faith.”

“How your faith has remained so unflappable all these years, I’ll never know. Even after…” Aziraphale trailed off as he realized the unpleasantness of bringing up the trial. It had been so many years ago now, but it still stuck like a thorn in Aziraphale’s side. “Oh, excuse me.”

Gabriel’s smile didn’t falter. “It’s alright.” If anything, the torture he had sustained prepared him for the horrible state of the world to come. “What’s done is done. I still consider it merciful given the circumstances.” He chuckled and ran a hand through his hair as he thought of his crime. Being stripped of his rank seemed a fair trade off to be allowed to love the Lord of Hell.

Aziraphale’s brow creased as he considered Gabriel and his unshakable faith in God. To each their own, he supposed. On more than one occasion, Gabriel had actually become  _ stronger  _ in his faith while drunk--which inevitably ruined the night as Crowley and the former archangel got into a row.

“You’ll be seeing Beelzebub while you’re back on English soil, I imagine?” Aziraphale offered a more pleasant avenue of conversation.

“Yes. We’ve got a date later.”

“It’s a shame you two can’t see each other more often.” Aziraphale couldn’t imagine going for months without seeing Crowley, not anymore. They were inseparable, protecting their little corner of peace and harmony tucked against the chalk cliffs.

“We both prefer it this way. They don’t get so annoyed with me, and distance  _ does  _ make the heart grow fonder.” Gabriel found his time with Beelzebub sweeter, spaced out between stints of work that kept them apart. Even the Lord of Hell seemed to cherish their time together more. Gabriel had seen a change in Beelzebub over time, an honest desire to spend time with him.

“Any special plans?” Aziraphale quirked a brow. The details of Gabriel and Beelzebub’s relationship dynamic had been unavoidable over the years of his growing friendship with the other angel. Particularly when he saw some of the marks Beelzebub left on Gabriel after a visit. Aziraphale would be lying if he said he didn’t find Gabriel’s interests fascinating.

Gabriel chuckled. “I like to be surprised,” he said in a low tone.

Aziraphale mirrored the chuckle with one of his own. “You know, I  _ surprised  _ Crowley with that thing you mentioned the last time…”

Crowley’s head suddenly popped up in the open kitchen window. “Oi! Don’t tell him about our sex life!”

Aziraphale jumped and whirled around to face the irritated demon in the window. “Crowley! Come now. Don’t be ridiculous. It’s  _ my  _ sex life, too. And if I want to--” Aziraphale huffed.

“You seemed pretty interested in hearing about  _ my  _ sex life,” Gabriel teased the demon.

“That was one time, and I was plastered,” Crowley retorted.

“My dear, it was more than one time,” Aziraphale corrected him with a knowing smirk.

“Speak of the devil,” Gabriel said as he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. He pulled the device from his pocket and answered it. “I was just thinking of you.”

“Where are you?” Beelzebub asked disinterestedly.

“The South Downs, catching up with Aziraphale.”

“Wanted to make sure you made it in alright,” Beelzebub muttered.

“How sweet.”

“You’re always in a goddamn warzone. It’s a valid concern.”

“If I discorporated, you would be the first to know, Bee.”

Even after two decades, the nickname earned the traditional irritated buzz in reply.

“I’ll be home in a couple hours. Think you can wait that long?” Gabriel asked.

“Mm. I’ll keep the champagne cold.”

“Oh, there’s champagne? What are we celebrating?”

Beelzebub grumbled something unintelligible and hung up.

Aziraphale peered at Gabriel out of the corner of his eyes with a curious look. “Champagne?” he asked with a little smile.

Gabriel shrugged with a love-drunk grin. “Guess they’re in a good mood.”

“How nice. What a lovely reunion it’ll be. How long has it been since you last saw them?”

“A few months. Saw them last when I was in New York City. They were around, checking on their various agents in the anarchist cells. Don’t you think that’s funny? Anarchists forming  _ groups. _ ”

Aziraphale’s face twisted unpleasantly. “I wouldn’t say  _ funny. _ ”

Gabriel looked abashed. “Worldview sort of changes when it’s all… well.” He didn’t like to infect Aziraphale’s peaceful little bubble too much with talk of his work. “Last time I saw them, we watched the battle of Alphabet City. Massive dust-up.” Well, that wasn’t much more cheerful. He sighed, smile twisted apologetically. “It was… well, it was romantic. Sitting up there, over the city…”

“Sounds macabre,” Aziraphale admitted with a look of concern. The angel relented with a sigh. “But who am I to deny you your, erm, romance.”

“No massacres or turf wars this time,” Gabriel said brightly. “Just a night in with Bee. I’m looking forward to it.”

“You don’t have to stay for tea,” Aziraphale offered.

“No, no. I want to hear about how you’ve been. Been doing much at the bookshop?”

Aziraphale gladly bustled around the kitchen to make the tea in one of his many teapots, and the two friends sat and whiled away an hour catching up. Aziraphale’s company soothed Gabriel, reminded him of simpler times, quieter times.

  
  



	3. To the End of the World

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beelzebub greets Gabriel at his penthouse with champagne, but Gabriel can't shake that something seems a little off with them.
> 
> (AKA finally some fucking soft hours.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The image of Beelzebub coming through Gabriel's phone is courtesy of [this wonderful piece of art](https://cashwiller.tumblr.com/post/187302163759/it-is-said-that-gabriel-guards-the) that never gets old.

[I’m home. See you soon.] Gabriel tapped into his herald-phone as he unwound the scarf from around his neck. He poked his head around to a mirror and fixed his coif just before he felt his phone buzz. Gabriel held his phone out as the Lord of Hell began to materialize from the receiver, and tilted it to pour Beelzebub’s shimmering form to stand in his living room, champagne in hand.

“Hi, Bee.” Gabriel beamed love out of every pore of his corporation as he pocketed his phone.

“Welcome home,” Beelzebub said with a faint smile. They had grown accustomed to that disgusting look of adoration, even come to expect it.

Gabriel gathered Beelzebub’s cheeks in his hands and bent to kiss them. “Missed you.”

“I wanted to catch you in Bahrain.”

“Something came up?”

“Cult leader in Kansazz.”

“Sounds important,” Gabriel offered. “Any excuse to prolong our next visit.”

Beelzebub narrowed their eyes at Gabriel. “It’zz not…”

“Only joking. You know I don’t mind.”

Beelzebub bristled to hide the wave of melancholy that threatened to ruin their mood.

“What’s the champagne for?” Gabriel asked and took the bottle from his lover.

“For you,” Beelzebub said blandly and walked toward the kitchen. “For not dizzcorporating.”

Gabriel swelled with affection and followed after Beelzebub. He caught them around the waist against the counter as they reached for some appropriate glassware and bent to kiss their neck tenderly. “I’m really growing on you, huh?”

Beelzebub’s lips twitched in a smile and they put the glasses down on the counter. They turned in Gabriel’s arms and ran their hands up his broad chest and around the back of his neck. “What good would you be to me without a body?”

“Mm. It’s just the body you like,” Gabriel said as he put down the champagne bottle in favor of holding onto more of his lover. He lifted the petite prince up onto the edge of the counter to mitigate some of their height difference. “That’s why you sent me that new tie,” he murmured against Beelzebub’s ear. “And why you text me those sweet little messages.” He kissed the demon’s throat and let his hand slip under their coat. “Asking about what audiobook I’m listening to…” He pressed another languid kiss against the neck angled to accept it. “Just to keep this body coming back.”

Beelzebub grinned and raked a hand through Gabriel’s hair. “Zzhut up,” they muttered. “‘Don’t be a fucking idiot’ isn’t a zzweet message.”

“Coming from you, it is,” Gabriel purred.

Beelzebub let themself melt into Gabriel’s embrace and pressed their face against his shirt. Even with all his traveling, Gabriel had a distinctive smell that Beelzebub longed for. A musky, masculine, vanilla smell. The angel had tried wearing cologne once and Beelzebub had railed against it so fervently that Gabriel gave up on that little experiment.

Gabriel felt Beelzebub soften in his arms, but their hands held tight to the back of his coat. The Lord of Hell had surrendered to Gabriel’s tenderness over the years, even seemed to enjoy it from time to time. But rarely were they  _ this  _ soft.

“Bee… you okay?”

Beelzebub stiffened and pulled back to scowl at the angel. “I’m fine. I thought you liked this zzhit.”

Gabriel smiled, but concern lingered in his eyes. “I do.”  _ You feel fragile,  _ he wanted to say, but knew it would ruin this soft moment of reunion. “You’re usually more reluctant. Took me by surprise.”

Beelzebub frowned. “It’zz been too long.” They felt foolish for letting themself lean into that sadness. They knew the end was coming soon, but Gabriel had no idea. Beelzebub had to keep it that way or things might come to a head too soon, before Gabriel was corrupted enough, before everything was in place.

Gabriel’s smile glowed. “I’m sorry I’ve been so busy. But you can come find me any time. I’ll always make time for you.” He wrapped Beelzebub up tightly, enveloping their whole petite frame against his chest.

Beelzebub was torn between wanting to shove Gabriel away, to say something horrible to make him recoil, ruin this moment, and wanting to curl up and hide there in his arms.

Gabriel felt so lucky things had gone the way they had. He knew without a doubt that Beelzebub loved him, even if they showed it in ways other people didn’t understand, and he was sure the demon missed him, even if they never said it.

“What do you have planned for tonight? Quiet night in?” Gabriel asked and kissed Beelzebub’s hair.

“Champagne. Sweetzz.” Beelzebub said as they pulled back and fixed Gabriel with a gaze they would not describe as fond, but Gabriel probably saw it as such.

“A lengthy night of conversation and food? How unlike you, Lord Beelzebub.”

The demon snorted and smirked. “Just gathering information for my zzide.”

“A  _ spy _ ?” Gabriel gasped with mock surprise. “And what if I won’t talk?”

Beelzebub grabbed Gabriel sharply by his tie. “I have wayzz of making you talk,” they purred.

Gabriel grinned and kissed the smirk on Beelzebub’s lips. The demon tugged harder on his tie, keeping him there as they deepened the press of their mouths. Gabriel squeezed the demon’s hip and dragged their body closer to his own.

When Beelzebub finally released him, Gabriel had that sappy, dazed look of one drunk with love. “Champagne first?” he offered.

Beelzebub gathered the glasses in one hand. Gabriel retrieved the champagne and they retired to the couch. With a devilish snap, Beelzebub made a very special assortment of treats disappear from a bakery down the street and appear on the coffee table before them. Gabriel felt a twinge of distress from said bakery owner who found their meticulously prepared delivery quite suddenly gone, and he gave Beelzebub a look.

“Who do you think put in the order?” Beelzebub muttered with a smirk. “Juzzt a minor inconvenience for the delivery boy who will have nothing to deliver, and zzome hair-pulling for the baker until he receivezz hizz payment anyway.”

“You’re working in minor inconveniences these days?” Gabriel teased as he wound his hand around the cork of the champagne bottle.

“Have to make my fun zzomehow.” Beelzebub opened the neat white pastry box to reveal a dozen black velvet cupcakes. 

Gabriel caught the peek of eager tongue over Beelzebub’s lips as they took one of the cupcakes. It pleased him to see Beelzebub in such good spirits, despite that flicker of fragility. No work to pull them away, at least for tonight. The indulgence of champagne seemed like a promise of a night just for the two of them. He popped the cork neatly and poured two glasses.

“What shall we drink to?” Gabriel asked.

“To the end of the world azz we know it,” Beelzebub offered with a grin. 

“Can’t argue with that,” Gabriel agreed. Heaven and Hell had been pulling their weight to ramp up another war, and even Gabriel could feel that it would come to a head soon. Twenty years of sharpening ethereal swords and occult spears, brewing holy wars in lieu of the Armageddon that they had been robbed of, the opposing forces were champing at the bit for the next Great War to kick off.

“To the end of the world,” the former archangel said grandly and clinked glasses with the Lord of Hell.

  
  



	4. Soft and Slow and Silent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel and Beelzebub have lots of champagne-drunk sex. That's it. That's the chapter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some fucking soft hours, as promised. Also, CW: Gabriel is male-presenting with a vulva in this chapter.

“I’m gonna zzit on your face,” Beelzebub proclaimed after perhaps too much champagne.

Gabriel barked out a laugh. “Okay,” he agreed readily. “Whatever you want, my love.”

Beelzebub growled at the sweet sentiment and grabbed Gabriel by the tie with intent. They realized too late that it was already undone and slid free uselessly in their hand. They might have tumbled off the couch were it not for Gabriel’s quick reflex to grab their wrist, despite his own inebriation.

He laughed easily and drew Beelzebub into his lap, champagne sloshing on his shirt. “Whatever you want,” he repeated and corrected himself, “Ba’al.”

“Juzzt for that,” Beelzebub pointed at Gabriel with their champagne flute. “I want you with a cunt tonight.”

“For that?” Gabriel smirked. “You just wanna tear my sloppy cunt up. Don’t lie.”

Beelzebub grinned into a long gulp of champagne. “True.”

Gabriel nuzzled against Beelzebub’s neck and rocked his hips up against them. “But I’m already hard for you…”

“Too bad,” Beelzebub snapped.

“I really love you, you know,” Gabriel said in a voice thick as syrup.

“Enough!” Beelzebub protested. “Zzhut your zztupid mouth.” They couldn’t help but laugh. “‘M gonna zzhut you up. Can’t talk with a mouthful of cunt.”

“I could try,” Gabriel threatened. “Grab the champagne,” he said as he locked an arm under the demon’s backside.

The coffee table was littered with four bottles, only one of them still alive. Beelzebub snatched it before Gabriel stood up from the couch, easily lifting the petite Lord of Hell still straddled on his lap.

Gabriel gripped Beelzebub’s ass as he carried them and nibbled at their throat. Distracted as he was, he managed to only stumble against one wall before he made it to the bedroom. Beelzebub downed the last of the champagne in their glass and then tossed it over Gabriel’s shoulder.

“Hey. Don’t break my glassware.”

“Whatever,” Beelzebub snorted.

“You’re a terror,” Gabriel said fondly.

“Demon,” Beelzebub proclaimed proudly.

Gabriel waited for Beelzebub to put down the bottle of champagne before he laid them on the plushly made up bed. The demon snapped and Gabriel’s clothes disappeared.

“Hey,” he grumbled. “Undressing is half the fun. It’s like… unwrapping a present.”

Beelzebub rolled their eyes and prepared to snap their own clothes off, but Gabriel snatched their hand and laced their fingers tightly against the bed.

“Let me have my fun,” Gabriel insisted. “I haven’t seen you in months and I never get to undress you. Usually tied up.”

“Fine. Hurry it up.”

Gabriel hooked his finger on Beelzebub’s broach and slid it free from the black tie around their neck as he tilted his lips toward the demon’s ear. “I like seeing you frustrated and impatient to have me,” he husked.

“That’zz a shitty kink.”

Gabriel ran his hand down Beelzebub’s front, palming one of their breasts. “You’re hot when you’re all worked up.” He moved his hands back up to unbutton Beelzebub’s shirt, fingers not quite coordinated. “You get a little… wild.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you piss me off,” Beelzebub said lightly and arched into the teasing touch of Gabriel bothering with their buttons. “Having zzome fucking trouble?” they snapped.

“I wanted to stop after the second bottle, but you just had to have more to tell that dumb story about the Satanic church.”

Beelzebub sniggered. “It wazz  _ funny. _ ”

“You have a sick sense of humor.” Gabriel smirked at Beelzebub’s easy smiles. He tugged at the demon’s shirt to untuck it from their trousers and expose small breasts. His lips traced the swell, unable to resist tasting one of those dark-rose nipples. “Mm, y’know what I’ve never seen you in?”

“A lot of thingzz, I imagine.”

Gabriel snorted. “Lingerie. Something really lacy.”

Beelzebub laughed loudly. “Fishnet not doing it for you anymore?”

“I think you’d look beautiful in lingerie.”

Beelzebub shoved at Gabriel’s head. “Lezz talking. More undrezzing.”

Gabriel took that as a sign that Beelzebub did not care for being called ‘beautiful,’ but also did not completely dismiss the idea. He grinned as he returned to reacquainting himself with Beelzebub’s creamy porcelain-pale skin. Before he bothered with the button of the demon’s trousers, he ran his broad fingers between their legs and could already feel the heat of their arousal. Beelzebub groaned and rocked into Gabriel’s touch, the sound of pleasure trailing off into a soft buzz. Gabriel had once likened Beelzebub’s tendency to buzz with extreme pleasure to a cat’s purr and received a sharp smack to the back of the head, so he kept those kinds of comments to himself. Most of the time.

As Gabriel undid Beelzebub’s trousers, he raked over the demon’s hip with his teeth and received another wanton roll of their hips. He peeled the Lord of Hell’s trousers off and kissed his way back up their bare thighs.

Beelzebub dragged themself upright and shrugged their shirt off the rest of the way. They reached for Gabriel’s chin and drew him up into a kiss, then checked his naked body. A pleased buzz vibrated in their throat as they saw the handsome, masculine angel wearing a thatch of neatly groomed coarse hair between his legs, no cock in sight.

“Get over here,” Beelzebub growled with an impatient grin.

Gabriel crept into Beelzebub’s lap and settled his hips against theirs with a sigh of pleasure.

“Not  _ here, _ ” Beelzebub scolded him. “On the bed.”

Gabriel grinned and rocked his mound against Beelzebub’s erect cock. “I just want to feel all of you against me,” he pleaded and laced his strong arms around the prince’s narrow shoulders.

Beelzebub grabbed Gabriel by his hair and hip and flipped him onto his back, a sharp knee pressed against his cunt. Gabriel groaned as Beelzebub’s knee set his unfamiliar vulva alight with sensation. “You’ll get yourzz after I get mine,” Beelzebub told him with a dark grin.

“Yes, Ba’al,” Gabriel gasped.  
“There’zz a good angel.” Beelzebub crawled over Gabriel’s body and kissed him. “You wanna know the other reason I want with you with a cunt tonight?” they asked, dark eyes hooded with desire. Gabriel gave them a curious smile. “I’m gonna give you so many orgasms, you won’t remember your name.” They continued to walk their knees around Gabriel’s broad frame until they were planted above his shoulders.

Gabriel ran his hands up Beelzebub’s sinfully soft thighs and encouraged them with a firm grip on their ass. He was overwhelmed with desire by the scent of Beelzebub’s slick arousal after so many months without and welcomed it with an overeager tongue.

Beelzebub shuddered and settled gratefully against their lover’s greedy mouth. Pleasure washed over them in waves, lapping through their thighs, creeping up through their core. They ran a praising hand through Gabriel’s hair before it moved up their own body. The demon caressed their breasts, kneaded them as Gabriel’s lips kissed every slick inch of them. As they rocked their hips slowly against Gabriel’s mouth, they raked a hand through their hair and languished in the champagne-tinged pleasure of being with Gabriel.

“I know how much you like tazzting me,” Beelzebub purred as they leaned back and angled all of their cunt against Gabriel’s questing tongue. One hand skated down Gabriel’s chest, over his tight abdomen, then fondled his mons. Gabriel’s moan was muffled between Beelzebub’s legs as the demon’s fingers slid over his wetness. “Already dripping,” Beelzebub preened and brought their fingers to their lips to taste Gabriel. It was rare that Gabriel made the effort for this biology, which made tasting him all the more a special treat.

Beelzebub’s thighs tensed as Gabriel’s tongue made a long, slow pass over their entire slit, and they reached for their own cock to stroke it slowly. “Really has been too long. You’re gonna have me coming quick,” Beelzebub admitted. “That’zz good,” they moaned and rocked their hips more quickly. “Oh, fuck yezz,” Beelzebub growled and sat forward, grinding their clit into Gabriel’s attentive sucking. 

With a gasp, Beelzebub’s body tensed in orgasm. Their panting breath had a touch of breathless laughter to it. “Fuck, you are good with your tongue, Gabriel…” Gabriel thanked the demon for the compliment with a soft delving tongue inside them. Beelzebub buzzed with pleasure and ran their fingers through Gabriel’s hair.

The angel looked up to find Beelzebub smiling fondly down at him, champagne- and bliss-softened. He kissed their clit and up the base of their cock as he ran his hands up their back, so grateful to have this time with the demon he loved.

Beelzebub sighed and reclined again. This time, they let their hand wander over Gabriel’s chest more slowly, appreciating the chisel of his muscles. Gabriel murmured his appreciation against Beelzebub’s clit with a kiss. The demon traced slowly down his abs and raked their fingers through the coarse hair between the defined V of his pelvis. Gabriel’s hips lifted toward their slender fingers and he dragged blunt nails down Beelzebub’s spine in silent pleading.

“I wonder how quick I can make you come,” Beelzebub mused as their fingers ran along either side of Gabriel’s clit. The angel’s strong frame shivered. “You’re alwayzz more senzzitive like this.” Beelzebub grinned as they teased the slick entrance below his clit with a fingertip and felt him moan against their cunt. “I can make you come from barely touching you,” they boasted. 

Beelzebub’s fingertips ghosted over Gabriel’s slit, then retraced over the sensitive flesh with a firm stroke. Gabriel translated his desire with increased attention to the job at hand. The demon’s fingertips rested gently against Gabriel’s clit and rubbed in small circles. The angel whimpered as his hips canted upward in desire for more friction.

“Maybe I do understand why you like to get me fruzztrated,” Beelzebub husked. “You’re zzo deliciouzz when you’re wanton.” They enjoyed feeling the way Gabriel began to struggle to focus on pleasuring them. “It’zz okay, Gabriel.” Beelzebub stroked his hair. “I want you to come for me.” Gabriel didn’t need much more encouragement than those words on his lover’s lips. The too-soft touch was driving him wild, and the generous permission was rare. He surrendered to the mounting pleasure and gripped Beelzebub tight as the wholly different type of orgasm shook through him.

Beelzebub cupped Gabriel’s sopping cunt and rubbed the peak of his mound with the heel of their hand, milking him through the aftershocks. Gabriel groaned hungrily and plunged his tongue gratefully into Beelzebub. The demon arched into the touch with a loud moan.

“Get in there deep,” they growled and shoved their hips against Gabriel’s face, pushing him into the mattress. Undeterred, Gabriel pulled Beelzebub’s hips down tightly and fucked his tongue as far as he could into the demon. Beelzebub grinned and fucked themself hard against the darting intrusion, reveling in another orgasm.

With a sigh, Beelzebub sat back for a moment on Gabriel’s chest to catch their breath and let Gabriel regain his. The angel ran his hands over Beelzebub’s thighs, then up their chest to caress their breasts. The demon buzzed with contentment and brought one of Gabriel’s hands to their lips to bite his fingers.

“Already had enough?” Gabriel challenged in a low, breathless voice.

Beelzebub bit his finger hard enough to hurt. “You know I haven’t,” they sneered.

“I see why you make this effort,” Gabriel breathed and lifted his head to flick his tongue over Beelzebub’s sensitive cunt.

The demon growled and grabbed at Gabriel’s hair.

“I still remember my name, though.” He grinned up at the demon before being forced back down on the bed and mounted again by that delicious cunt.

“Let’zz zzee how well you keep up those smart-azz commentzz with thizz.” Beelzebub apparated a vibrator wand in their hand near Gabriel’s cunt. He made a confused sound between his lover’s legs as he felt something hard press against his clit, then jerked as the demon turned the vibrator on. He clutched Beelzebub tightly and groaned as his thighs trembled from the intense stimulation.

Beelzebub turned the toy up a few notches and laughed as Gabriel moaned desperately against their cunt. “You don’t need permizzion,” Beelzebub assured him. “I want to zzee you unravel.”

Gabriel was unaccustomed to the wonders of this biology, the deep jolts of intense pleasure as his body throbbed in response to the stimulation of his sensitive clit. It only took moments for his next orgasm to crash over him.

Beelzebub kept the toy firmly on Gabriel’s oversensitized clit as he gasped for relief. The angel writhed underneath Beelzebub and clawed at their back. The demon forced their cunt on Gabriel’s begging lips and rode his desperate pleas.

Gabriel came several times in as many minutes before Beelzebub finally ratchetted the speed down and directed the head lower. The angel wasn’t so much eating Beelzebub out as whimpering and begging against their flesh.

“Come on, archangel,” Beelzebub purred. “Don’t get dizztracted. Worzzhip your Ba’al,” they encouraged.

Gabriel had left Beelzebub’s back a scratched landscape. He tried to make his mouth work, but Beelzebub was running the toy up and down his slit and turning him in a trembling mess again.

“Zzuck on my clit,” Beelzebub directed him.

Gabriel could take orders. He focused his desperate attention on Beelzebub’s clit until he was helpless to another storm of pleasure brewing between his legs.

“Mm, don’t let up now,” Beelzebub growled and leaned into Gabriel’s mouth. Just before Gabriel hit his peak, Beelzebub pulled the toy completely away and relished in their own orgasm. They rewarded the angel with the return of the toy at full force. Gabriel shouted with pleasure against their cunt, wracked with wave after wave of mind-numbing orgasm.

Gabriel vaguely registered Beelzebub crawling off of him. He was roused by a kiss to his neck that felt like an orgasm in and of itself. Beelzebub used the covers to wipe his face clean, then kissed his lips. He moaned at the tender touch and his hands found Beelzebub’s face, combing into their hair.

“How doezz it feel, Gabriel?” Beelzebub whispered against his lips.

Gabriel could only whimper in response.

“Oopzz, lookzz like I reminded you of your name,” Beelzebub teased.

Gabriel had no control over his trembling frame as Beelzebub ran their fingers feather-soft along the line of his clavicle. He arched to even the lightest touch and his fingers dragged over the sheets desperately. He was a slave to the pleasure, absolutely overstimulated but hungry for every caress, every breath against his skin.

“Have to make you forget it all over again,” Beelzebub whispered against his chest. Their gaze was feral as their petite frame moved sinuously over the angel. They traced a torturously slow trail around Gabriel’s nipple, then flicked their tongue over the opposite one.

A stab of pleasure made Gabriel cry out and tug Beelzebub’s hair. The demon worried Gabriel’s nipple with tender lips and pinched sharply at the other with cruel fingers. Gabriel arched off the bed, arms strained and muscles bulging with the force of another orgasm.

Beelzebub tugged and abused his nipple, kneaded the firm muscle of his pec while dragging teeth over the other captured nub. Gabriel writhed like an animal, losing track where one orgasm ended the next began.

When Beelzebub was finally finished with his nipples, it was back to those ghostly tender touches and whispers of lips. Every breath shuddered out of him, growing deeper as Beelzebub almost gave him reprieve from the stimulation. As keyed up as he was, even the faintest of touches threatened to send him over the edge again.

His cunt had gone untouched for long enough that when he finally felt Beelzebub’s caress against his sopping mess, he groaned with celestial force. Beelzebub lifted a brow at Gabriel and dragged their wet fingers along his trembling thigh.

“Careful with that voice of yours, Mezzenger,” Beelzebub murmured. They kissed Gabriel’s stomach, watching the muscles hitch with his breath, then laved a wet stripe with their tongue to his pronounced hip bones. “You might hurt me with your invocationzz.” Gabriel whimpered as Beelzebub’s tongue loved the angle of his pelvis. “Or zzummon an unwanted obzzerver.”

Beelzebub’s buzzing voice against his overheated flesh was surely going to discorporate him. The back of his hand moved to his mouth, muffling his endless pleas. Suddenly, Beelzebub was devouring him and he swore he saw God taking notes.

“Alwayzz a fucking mess,” Beelzebub said, and Gabriel heard the praise in their voice. “Zztill with me, archangel?”

Gabriel turned his head limply to see the Lord of Hell looming over him. His eyes were a purple ruin of desire, and his smile was blown out with bliss. “Don’t remember my name,” he said breathlessly. “Remember yours, though.” He forced a jellied arm to find Beelzebub’s shoulder and hooked it around the demon’s neck, drawing their faces together. “Bee.” The demon, for once, was in too good a mood to care. “Beelzebub,” Gabriel went on and kissed the demon softly. “Lord of Hell.” Beelzebub kissed the words off his lips. “My Ba’al.”

Beelzebub pressed their cock slowly against Gabriel’s messy cunt and reveled in the broken look on the angel’s face. Gabriel’s trembling thighs welcomed the demon and wrapped around narrow hips. The angel’s cunt was so slick and swollen with arousal, it accepted Beelzebub’s cock greedily. Wordless sounds of ecstasy passed between the angel and the demon’s lips.

Every movement of Beelzebub inside him was like a prolonged climax, too sweet, branding iron hot. The demon’s brow fell against his neck, slender arms braced over his shoulders and fingers tangled in his hair. Gabriel held them in strong arms. Their last orgasm was shared, slow and soft and silent.


	5. Tell Me What's Wrong With My Brain

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beelzebub has a drunken meltdown, and a confused Gabriel comforts them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from ["You Know What I Mean"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXeLGCxJwhw) by The Cults.

Beelzebub was slow to stir after Gabriel left the bed to take a shower. They rolled into the dent left from Gabriel and breathed deep of his lingering smell. It was the unpleasant wet spot left in the wake of their romp that finally made them sit up.

With a snap, they fixed the sheets. With another, they apparated a cigarette between their lips and grabbed the bottle of champagne. Beelzebub allowed themself a moment longer to bask, but the devil never sleeps.

Their eyes moved slowly over to Gabriel’s bedside table. His herald-phone had been miracled there when his clothes had been snapped away. The demon took a long slug of champagne without breaking eye-contact with the angelic device, then rolled toward the side of the bed.

The Lord of Hell picked up the phone and unlocked it with devilish intent. They opened the messages from the Metatron and scrolled through them. With a furtive glance over their shoulder to ensure Gabriel was still in the shower, Beelzebub let their demonic essence filter into the device. A few words changed, a few phrases twisted, and a few steps closer to damning Gabriel to Fall.

Beelzebub replaced the phone and drained the last of the champagne. They dropped the end of the cigarette into the bottle to extinguish it. Then they apparated themself another bottle.

Gabriel felt more human--well, human-shaped and not the desperate pleasure slave he had devolved into--after a long shower. What with his powers so stripped down to bare minimum, he had to do a lot more human things. Beelzebub often cleaned up after their bouts with a demonic miracle of their own, but Gabriel had come to actually enjoy showers.

He returned to the bedroom and was pleased to see Beelzebub was still there. His expression fell as he saw the state of the demon. They were coiled around the bottle of champagne, slouched forward, and shaking.

“Are you... crying?” Gabriel asked, shocked and distressed.

Beelzebub sniffled and scrubbed at their face. “Fuck you. No ‘m not.” They took a deep drink of the champagne.

“Beelzebub…” Gabriel sat down on the bed--which was miraculously unsoaked. “Why are you crying?”

“Becauzze I love you, that’zz why,” they snapped in a mean snarl. Beelzebub glared up at Gabriel. Tears piled in their coal black eyes and fell free with a choked sob.

Gabriel was at a loss for words. This was not like his beloved at all. Even when very drunk, Beelzebub was not emotional. Sometimes they were a little more compliant to Gabriel’s desire to cuddle, but drinking did not bring out confessions of love in the demon.

“I… didn’t know demons  _ could  _ cry…” Gabriel murmured, just to say something. He moved a little closer, unsure whether it was better to hold the demon or give them their space. He knew to give Beelzebub space when they were overwhelmed, especially after an intense bout in the bedroom or playroom. But what was he supposed to do when Beelzebub was  _ crying _ ?

The demon jerked back from Gabriel with a warning look.

The angel retreated an inch. “Something’s wrong,” Gabriel sighed. “I knew something was wrong.”  _ You feel fragile… _ He had noticed it before, when he held Beelzebub at the beginning of the night.

Beelzebub stubbornly wiped at their eyes with the heel of their palm. They looked away from Gabriel resolutely.

Gabriel reached for their cheek and ran their thumb over the damp ghosts of tears. Beelzebub shut their eyes tightly.

“Are you going to tell me what’s wrong?” Gabriel asked. Whatever it was, he had to stay strong for Beelzebub now. His voice was steady, unwavering.

“No,” Beelzebub muttered.

Gabriel was understandably worried. Something that upset the Lord of Hell this much was dire. World-shattering dire. End of Days dire. And if it brought out an ‘I love you,’ it must have to do with him as well as Beelzebub.

“Are you worried about our arrangement?” Gabriel asked. His hand lowered from Beelzebub’s cheek to run over their arm.

“Why couldn’t you juzzt leave me alone?” Beelzebub burst with a fresh spill of tears. They jerked their arm out of Gabriel’s touch and put their face in their hands.

“Don’t start with that.” Gabriel sighed. “Please don’t say something you’ll regret.” Beelzebub had said plenty of hurtful things to him over the years, some that still stung. But the demon always came back around, sometimes with an apology.

“Zzhut up!” Beelzebub shouted. “You’re zzo… fucking annoying,” they wept.

Gabriel took the bottle from Beelzebub’s grasp. As he put it aside, he realized it was an  _ additional  _ bottle to the one they had brought with them to the bedroom. He sat closer to Beelzebub and drew the diminutive demon into their arms. 

Beelzebub shoved him back hard, fighting with real fury. “Zztop! Get the fuck away from me!”

Gabriel withstood Beelzebub’s ferocity patiently. He accepted the blows, the scrape of nails, bruises that made him grunt, determined to run the fight out of Beelzebub. If the Lord of Hell really wanted to hurt him, it would be simple enough to accomplish. If they wanted to have a tantrum, Gabriel would let them. Finally, the demon relented and fell against his chest, beating a weak fist against him and sobbing.

“Stay the night,” Gabriel said quietly. His heart hurt as he ran his hand slowly over Beelzebub’s shaking back.

“I love you!” Beelzebub cried furiously.

Gabriel didn’t understand the fervor in their voice.

“That’zz zzomething I fucking regret zzaying.”

Gabriel frowned and held Beelzebub tighter. The demon had never felt so small in his arms. Beelzebub crumpled against his chest. “We’ve been through a lot. For that.” Gabriel let his chin rest on Beelzebub’s hair.

“It’zz gonna destroy you,” Beelzebub croaked.

“I’ve survived this long.” Gabriel tried to brush some of the demon’s hair back from their face. Beelzebub snatched his hand away. “Despite your best efforts.”

“You’re gonna Fall. And it’zz all my fault.”

“Hey. Bee.” Gabriel forced Beelzebub to look at him. Hair stuck to their tear-stained cheeks. “It’s been twenty years. I know that’s not that long, but it’s a testament to my faith. And my love for you.”

Beelzebub’s face twisted with anguish and they dove back against his chest to hide their raw emotions so exposed.

“Why don’t you sober up?” Gabriel suggested. “You’ll realize how dumb you’re being once you’ve got a clear head.”

“Zzhut it. I don’t want a clear head,” Beelzebub growled.

Gabriel smiled a little. “Of course. You want to suffer. My poor demon.”

Beelzebub punched Gabriel weakly.

“I already paid for my transgressions.” He could still feel the phantom pain of the powers that had been stripped from him. His lost wings still ached, but less and less. Beelzebub’s love was the salve that kept him sane.

“Haven’t paid for mine,” Beelzebub said in a small voice.

“Don’t. You told me yourself Hell had a field day when the Dark Council found out.” Gabriel brushed Beelzebub’s hair back from their wet cheeks. “Guilt is not your style.”

“Why are you zzo… good?” Beelzebub growled.

“God made me this way.”

“Zzhould’ve given you more brainzz, you zztupid fucking--”

“Enough with the name calling.” Gabriel gave Beelzebub a squeeze. “Sleep it off, sunshine.” The angel toppled Beelzebub onto the bed in an undignified heap. He slid onto the bed and pulled back the covers. Beelzebub crawled into his arms and Gabriel smiled at the fragile demon.

“If you still feel this way in the morning, we can talk about it.”

“If you ever mention thizz again, I’ll dezztroy you.”

Gabriel sighed and sank into his pillow. “I don’t understand you sometimes.” He ran a hand over Beelzebub’s tense shoulder, and it softened under his touch. “But I love you. Always.”


	6. Something Good

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beelzebub wakes up with the hangover from Hell, and Gabriel placates them with the promise of a thousand-thousand pleasures.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is from ["Something Good"](https://youtu.be/7_06QFixRkE) from The Sound of Music.

As promised, Gabriel made no mention of Beelzebub’s state the night before. The demon was understandably Very Hungover and insisted they were going back to Hell as soon as they were conscious.

“First, drink this.” Gabriel put a short glass in Beelzebub’s outstretched hand. For being determined to go back to Hell, they sure as hell hadn’t made a move to get out from under a nest of blankets. The glass disappeared under the pillow over Beelzebub’s head, then reappeared with a full-body shudder and groan from the Lord of Hell.

“Just the way you like it.”

“You don’t choke down a raw egg and half a cup of hot zzauce becauzze you  _ like it, _ ” they growled.

“But I know how you like your hot sauce. All the extremes.” Gabriel took the glass back and leaned over the prince’s frame to kiss their bare shoulder. “Do you want your breakfast in bed?” he asked, kissing his over their shoulderblade and to the base of their neck. “I made your favorite.”

Beelzebub groaned and rolled their arm ineffectively. “Get off me.”

“Get you off? Is that what you said, love?” Gabriel kept his voice sympathetically quiet, but couldn’t hide the grin in it.

Beelzebub peeked at Gabriel from under the pillow. “I honezztly don’t think I could right now,” they muttered weakly.

Gabriel’s eyebrows raised. “That bad.” He pressed forward to kiss Beelzebub’s cheek, despite how the demon retched in response. “I’ll bring you breakfast. In bed! How indulgent,” he preened.

“Juzzt do it and zztop talking.”

Gabriel had the sense to pull the blinds closed in the bedroom, but even the hint of morning light was making Beelzebub dizzy. They hardly remembered what they had said last night, but they knew with true dread that they had cried in front of Gabriel. That last bottle of champagne had been a horrible idea. Instead of drowning their sorrows, the champagne had made them just spill them out. They dragged themself up to sitting and squeezed their temples. What had they  _ said? _

Whatever it was, Gabriel didn’t seem perturbed. He was being his normally cheery self. Almost to a more obnoxious degree than usual. Damnit. They had really let themself go last night. Even the sex had been… goddamn  _ tender. _ But every moment with Gabriel was one more grain of sand down the hourglass before he Fell. There wasn’t much sand left to trickle down. Beelzebub looked up miserably to find Gabriel’s sunny face accompanied by a tray of ‘gross matter’ that frankly smelled devilishly good.

Gabriel’s tenderness had definitely rubbed off on them. The angel did things, thoughtful, sweet things, that the Lord of Hell had never imagined they would enjoy. In the same way, Gabriel had picked up on where to draw the line--not that he didn’t take great pleasure in pushing that line on a regular basis.

Beelzebub loved him and it was destroying them.

They looked dispassionately at the food Gabriel had made as the angel brought it to their lap. Bacon and eggs that had been cooked within an inch of their death with butter. Strong, black coffee. Beelzebub looked up at Gabriel blankly, pale and withdrawn.

“Cupcakes are still cooling.”

Beelzebub shut their eyes and gave an involuntary jerk as they felt the uncomfortable crush of their heart in their chest. They missed the flicker of worry on Gabriel’s face as they hung their head and reached for the coffee.

Gabriel sat on the edge of the bed to enjoy Beelzebub partaking of the breakfast he had made for them. He didn’t care for food, though he had graduated from thinking of it as ‘gross matter.’ Beelzebub’s fondness for sweets had been the initial inspiration for Gabriel to learn how to cook the human way. Years ago, the first time he took a crack at it, he’d made cupcakes after spreading a mass temptation across America. The process had helped his nerves a bit, as then he had been so devoted to showing his love to the Lord of Hell, but also conflicted about acting outside his usual strict policy of Lawful Good. Since then, he’d come to enjoy cooking for Beelzebub’s pleasure.

The demon ate slowly, and the greasiness of the offerings assuaged some of the sharper effects of their initial hangover. “Didn’t mean to drink zzo much lazzt night,” Beelzebub said quietly.

“It’s alright. We were celebrating.” Beelzebub wouldn’t meet his gaze, and Gabriel wondered if he should tempt fate and bring up the tears, the fear. “I had a wonderful time.” He forced his warm smile. “You were… incredible.”

Beelzebub gave a noncommittal grunt over their coffee.

Gabriel’s smile faded and he stopped trying to catch his lover’s stubbornly averted gaze. “I know you’re busy, but… I have a day or two before I fly out to Florence.”

“I am buzzy,” Beelzebub muttered around a mouthful of bacon. “I have to be getting back to Hell.”

Gabriel sighed heavily.

Beelzebub looked up at that. Gabriel was usually very forgiving, even encouraging, of their mutually busy schedules. He rarely complained or showed if it bothered him. Even now, he didn’t outright complain, but his strong features were contorted into a wistful, disingenuous smile.

“What?” Beelzebub demanded in a flat tone.

“You said last night…” Gabriel trailed off and Beelzebub tensed. Gabriel let out a sharp exhale. “You said it had been too long.” He turned deep lavender eyes full of concern on his lover.

Beelzebub poked at their eggs, fork scraping unpleasantly against the plate.

“Why don’t we make a day of it?” Gabriel asked. Beelzebub was quiet, so Gabriel leaned forward on the bed to try and find his way into their distracted gaze. “Let me take you on a date. We’ll go walk around the Big Ben memorial. Throw something in the Thames. We can have dinner at that restaurant you like.”

And all the while, they would be corrupting Gabriel. When would be the last time? Would they even know? Maybe it was better to just get it over with. Why keep dragging it out? Gabriel would be crushed by the betrayal, and Beelzebub would deserve what came for them.

“If you’re not feeling up to it--we… we could just stay in. Order too much up from the bar, a little hair of the dog.” Gabriel tried to smile. “Just... “ The angel crept closer and kissed Beelzebub’s downturned head. “Stay, if you like.”

Beelzebub’s hand tightened on their fork in tandem with the muscles of their cheeks. “... Yeah. Yeah maybe I’ll… zztay.” They slowly looked at Gabriel and saw the joy spread across his face, centered on that big, toothy grin.

“We can watch the radical news cuddled up on the couch--and, well, do whatever you’d like. If you want, I’ll…” his voice dropped an octave and Beelzebub saw those lavender eyes soften with lustful promise.

“You’re a terrible angel. You should zee the luzzt in your eyezz.” Beelzebub allowed themself to lean into the prospect of spending the day with Gabriel. They  _ wanted  _ to take this day to be with him, but the dread was growing unbearable. “Juzzt what temptationzz do you have in mind now?”

Gabriel took Beelzebub’s hand from their coffee mug, fingers tucked over his knuckles in a gentlemanly way, and kissed it. “Making up for lost time. A thousand pleasures for you in return for last night. A thousand pleasures more so you won’t miss me so much until we meet again.”

Beelzebub gripped Gabriel’s fingers and pressed their thumb roughly against the angel’s mouth. “Even if I leave you wanting until the very lazzt moment?”

Gabriel took Beelzebub’s thumb between his lips, laved the pad of their finger with his tongue, then let his teeth sink slowly into it in reply. He held Beelzebub’s gaze with unmistakable hunger.

Beelzebub grinned. “A day in it izz.”

“I try not to say it too often,” Gabriel said as he kissed Beelzebub’s thumb, “but I do miss you.” With that, he drew back and left Beelzebub to finish their breakfast in peace. He’d learned the best way to deliver his tenderness; best to pull the pin, drop it at Beelzebub’s feet, and leave before it detonated.

Beelzebub emerged from the bedroom and followed the strains of “Something Good” into the kitchen. The Lord of Hell had discovered Gabriel’s fondness for the human classic some years ago when they had foolishly traded a night of Hellfire play for an outing to witness ‘The Sound of Music’ performed on stage. (Afterward, Beelzebub had teased Gabriel until he was bright red about the revelation of where his nun fetish had come from.) It was not long after that they discovered Gabriel’s lovely singing voice, as he couldn’t help singing strains to himself for months afterward.

Gabriel turned to find Beelzebub watching him, nose wrinkled but smiling. “ _ For here you are, standing there, loving me, whether or not you should, _ ” he sang with indulgent tenor vibrato. He stood at the counter, pastry bag in hand, applying a decadent amount of icing to a dozen cupcakes. Another dozen of a different type awaited his attention.

Beelzebub trudged forward. “Keep it down.” The prince winced. “Even if thiz izz one of the leazzt obnoxiouzz onezz,” they muttered under their breath. Gabriel lowered his voice to a hum and miracled the radio down a few notches.

“ _ Nothing comes from nothing. Nothing ever could, _ ” the angel sang softly to his beloved. Gabriel couldn’t hide the pleasure in his smile. It was the little things that showed Beelzebub cared--like how they bothered to indulge him his favorite love ballad from the “zztupid waste of time” he so loved.

“The first of your thousand pleasures, Ba’al.” Gabriel presented Beelzebub with a freshly-frosted cupcake.

Beelzebub took it with a critical smile. “Zztarting zzo innozzent?” The demon licked a quarter of the frosting off in one go. “I zzuppose that’s suitable. For now.”

“Shall I make you something from the bar for your next pleasure?” Gabriel asked as he finished the first dozen cupcakes. Last night had hardly been the first night in twenty years one of them had drunk to their corporation’s limits, and Beelzebub had introduced Gabriel to a variety of so-called ‘hangover cures.’ Once the alcohol had taken its toll on the almost-mortal body of a celestial entity, the hangover was much more difficult to remove than the alcohol itself. But human remedies such as hair of the dog did the trick just as well for ethereal and occult entities.

“I’ll take thizz,” Beelzebub said and slipped the nearly spent pastry bag from Gabriel’s hands. They retired to the couch with both cupcake and pastry bag to indulge and turned on the wide screen television mounted on the wall with a snap of their fingers. As per usual, it was on the news. The Lord of Hell supped on sweets and caught up on the chaos. 

Gabriel eventually finished his work and turned off his music to join the demon. “Anything of interest?” he asked lightly. The turmoil of the world came from both sides, so it was of their mutual interest to watch the waves of destruction crash over each other, as romantic for them as an idle walk on the beach.

Beelzebub had nearly wiped the pastry bag clean with their fingers. “Your side’s winning Syria, for once. My side’s got Berlin, though.” They smiled smugly and sucked a sugary digit.

“Oh, we’ll see about that.” Gabriel returned the confident look.

Beelzebub shot Gabriel a scowl. “Are you challenging the Lord of Hell?”

“I’ve got a few… ah, what do they say? Tricks up my sleeve.” Gabriel flashed a grin.

Beelzebub snapped up Gabriel’s jaw with icing-smeared fingers. “Tell me what you know, Messenger,” they demanded.

Gabriel grabbed Beelzebub by the wrist and his hard look broke. “Stop--you’re getting me all sticky.” He tugged Beelzebub grip free from his jaw and instead trapped one of their fingers between his lips.

Beelzebub watched with pleasure as Gabriel laboriously cleaned their finger, then moved onto the next. “It’s only a matter of time,” they said loftily.

Gabriel sucked between Beelzebub’s fingers and flicked his tongue playfully. “Until what?” he asked.

Beelzebub felt a sudden pang assault them; a ticking clock nagging at the back of their mind, the hourglass losing sand… Gabriel sweetly devoured their fingers, oblivious to the double meaning that struck the prince into that frozen expression.

“Until Hell triumphs,” Beelzebub said quietly.

Gabriel kissed Beelzebub’s palm. “Don’t get so serious, Bee,” he scolded. “Just one day. Just take one day off.” The angel pulled Beelzebub forward by the wrist, kissed the tender dip of their arm, then found their icing-sweet lips. “Are a thousand-thousand pleasures not enough to tempt you?”

Beelzebub sighed against Gabriel’s lips.

“I know working in Hell is hard. Miserable. I know how much pride you take in your work.” Gabriel moved the pastry bag out of the way so as to avoid an even stickier mess and continued to lean into Beelzebub, kissing them again. “You’re stressed.” Gabriel’s strong hands slid between Beelzebub and the couch, fingers pressing hard rivulets up the demon’s tense muscles.

Beelzebub exhaled and melted into the pressure of Gabriel’s fingers. The dull ache of last night’s champagne still settled in the back of their skull, rolled around in their head with the gravity of an iron weight. Worse still was the weight of Gabriel on their body--the sure, familiar weight of his body that made them feel worshipped, loved in a way they still did not fully understand; the weight of his fate, suffocating and needling like a torture tailor made for the Lord of Hell.

At least Gabriel’s torture had been swift. His back was still scarred, but he could cope with it openly. Not like an unseen festering wound that was torn open a little more with each passing second.

Beelzebub bit Gabriel’s shoulder hard enough to hurt. “Stress is my biznezz.” The bite had arched Gabriel’s head away from their neck, sure as a pull on a leash. “As it izz yourzz.”

Gabriel looked side-long at his lover. “And this is my stress relief.” The angel dug his fingers into Beelzebub’s back and was rewarded with a reluctant sigh of contentment. “As it is yours, I hope?” He didn’t have to hope--he knew. But he liked to needle Beelzebub to admit it. It was hard work, loving the Lord of Hell, but Gabriel had never shied from a challenge.

Beelzebub snorted dismissively, but their fingers were idly carding through Gabriel’s hair by their own volition. “You’ve gotten zzo good at waiting for my every command…” The Lord of Hell allowed those lavender eyes to pour into their own. Even after two decades, they had not grown accustomed to the disgusting feeling of their heart squeezing, pumping in some autonomic response to that gaze. “You practically antizzipate them.”

“I like to think I’ve learned what pleases you,” Gabriel said proudly.

“Antizzipate my thousand pleasures,” Beelzebub drawled, “and I will reward you.” Their slender thigh slid between Gabriel’s, grinding against his groin through his loose joggers. “I will give you only one command.”

Gabriel’s cock stirred, and he knew what that one command would be. He barely repressed a shiver at the thought of how delivering Beelzebub’s pleasure would push his limits.

Beelzebub would push his limits--but he wouldn’t break them. For a long time, they hadn’t had any need for a word to indicate where that limit lie. Gabriel wanted nothing more than to be  _ enough  _ for Beelzebub, to take everything they had to offer, fulfill every desire. But the demon was greedy and their lust was bottomless; their imagination functioned purely for new ways to torment, to find pleasure in depraved ways.

There had come a time when it  _ had  _ been too much for Gabriel to handle. Too intense, too degrading, too abjectly painful, when he felt utterly disconnected from Beelzebub and from the pleasure of feeling powerless. He didn’t feel  _ safe.  _ It was that cry, that begging sob,  _ “I’m not safe,”  _ that had brought Beelzebub utterly out of their blind lust.

It was a strange thing to tell a demon. Demons were meant to make people feel uncomfortable, threatened.  _ “I’m not safe” _ wasn’t from the script of ‘no,’ ‘stop,’ or ‘it hurts.’ It cut deeper, to an unspoken bond they had formed over their time together. Gabriel submitted to Beelzebub because he loved them and trusted them. When that thread vanished, Beelzebub was  _ truly  _ hurting the angel. The Lord of Hell had never wanted that. Not since the Ultor had torn out his wings for the crime of being in love with them.

_ “I’m not safe”  _ made Beelzebub stop what they were doing, vanish away the scene, and hold Gabriel, just as they had held him at his lowest point. They would not complain or degrade the angel--they would hold him as long as it took for him to remember that they  _ did  _ love him. After that first time, Beelzebub had a stern conversation with him about utilizing those words anytime he felt that way. They had a flat, monotone discussion about the fact that they did not in fact want to hurt him. Even then, it had stung knowing that they were lying to Gabriel in other ways.

“Do what you muzzt.” Beelzebub’s lips slowly spread into a grin. It was so much sweeter to make the angel bring himself to the brink over and over again than to do it themself. Gabriel had proven himself capable of holding back his orgasm under even the most extreme duress, and the result was… delicious, to say the least.

“Any other rules, Ba’al?” Gabriel asked and leaned into the surprisingly gentle fingers in his hair.

“Don’t make me do all the work,” Beelzebub growled and pulled at his hair.

Gabriel grit his teeth and bit back a laugh. 


	7. How Long, Lord, How Long

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel begins performing his thousand pleasures for his beloved Beelzebub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 1 of 3 for this enormous edging scene. Smut all week, kittens! Chapter title is from ["Vanity Fair"](https://youtu.be/Z1r-kzV3nbQ) by Mr. Bungle.

Gabriel had been relegated to bed for the better part of a year after his wings were requisitioned. In some ways, his sex life with Beelzebub, upon which the majority of their relationship had initially been based, had suffered. In others, it had grown both more intimate and more extreme. Pain had been an inexorable component because of the state of his wounded body, but Beelzebub had demonstrated their ability to match, even overwhelm, the pain with pleasure.

Gabriel was grateful--more than that, he was all the more hopelessly in love with the Lord of Hell for it. He demonstrated as much when his body allowed. The following years, albeit between months-long stretches of absence, had been spent making up for lost time. Gabriel learned what Beelzebub liked, what they would tolerate, when to break the rules. He learned Beelzebub’s subtle moods, how to read their irritated boredom as a sign that they wanted him to take charge, or how their buzzing, pleasant moods were times to supplicate to them fully and reap the rewards. He made himself available to their furious moods, and was rewarded with tenderness afterward unheard of from a demon, much less the Lord of Hell. 

Together, they had built an unsinkable trust. Gabriel spoke too much and Beelzebub too little, but the angel and demon had slowly learned each other’s unspoken vocabulary.

For instance, Gabriel knew exactly what Beelzebub wanted of him now--this first pleasure. What Beelzebub wanted outside of intimacy was still a confusing path, full of mysterious silences and sudden outbursts, but such was the nature of an entity whose capacity for love had been stripped, mangled, and rewired poorly. But now, in this moment of promised pleasures, Gabriel knew his lover wanted to see him aroused and ready for temptation.

Gabriel peeled himself reluctantly from Beelzebub’s frame and sat back on his knees. He dragged his shirt over his head with one hand while the other fondled himself through the loose heather-gray softness of his joggers.

Beelzebub remained languidly draped on the couch. The faint smile on their lips meant the world to Gabriel. They licked their lips as their gaze flicked down invitingly at Gabriel’s clothed crotch.

The angel grinned and continued to palm his cock through the fabric, the shape of his arousal obvious. Even without the demon’s touch, the chiseled flesh of his chest felt hot with their stare. It had taken years before Beelzebub would allow him to even see just that look. His cock came quickly to attention under that gaze. He tugged down the waistband of his pants and withdrew his cock for Beelzebub’s viewing pleasure, ruddy and growing more eager by the moment.

Beelzebub dragged themself up a few inches and skimmed a hand down their own chest to rest lazily between their legs. A thumb ran slowly over the base of their cock as their fingertips brushed over their sex.

Gabriel stroked his cock slowly at first, like he might thinking of Beelzebub a world away. The heat pooled in his groin much more quickly with those eyes on him, with Beelzebub only a foot away for the taking. He took his balls in his other hand as he thumbed the tip of his cock with a soft breath of pleasure. 

Beelzebub bit their lip and their cock twitched appreciatively at the sight.

Gabriel’s chest rose and fell more rapidly with the increasing pace of his own hand on his cock. He moaned as the jolts of pleasure spread through his thighs and made them tense. Soon, his cock was weeping for Beelzebub, Gabriel’s palm making wet sounds against his turgid flesh. Just as the pleasure shimmered through him like a mirage, a thin veil before his peak, he stopped and squeezed one last precious drop of precome from the tip.

Beelzebub’s fingertips were slick with their arousal from the show. They beckoned Gabriel forward with wet fingers. The angel crawled forward, abandoned cock bobbing lewdly against his belly. Beelzebub pressed the glistening fingers between Gabriel’s lips and pulled him by the hip.

Gabriel moaned hungrily against Beelzebub’s fingers and sucked the intoxicating taste of his lover from them. Beelzebub led him over their body, past their waiting cunt, to straddle their chest. Gabriel bit down on the demon’s fingers as he felt Beelzebub’s tongue lap up the pearly beads of precome from his cock.

“No,” the angel gasped, breathless.

“Be good, Archangel,” Beelzebub hissed patiently, using that forbidden nickname that made Gabriel shiver. They flicked their tongue past the head again and felt it lurch toward their mouth. The Lord of Hell’s spit was no ordinary saliva, but something sticky and viscous, one of their fly-like attributes. Beelzebub kissed the tip of Gabriel’s cock and set thick, gooey beads dripping down his shaft.

Gabriel gripped the arm of the sofa behind Beelzebub’s head and shuddered, the demon’s words ringing in his ears. He moaned in protest as his lover’s strong fingers insisted his hips forward, demanded he press his cock between those lips. Of course Beelzebub would go for his weak point first. He shuddered as Beelzebub swallowed him whole, coating his cock in that sinfully gooey slick. Gabriel didn’t dare look--he knew he would fall miserably short of Beelzebub’s pleasures if he did. 

But Beelzebub knew their angel’s limits and gave him reprieve of his greatest weakness only moments after tempting him. The demon pushed Gabriel’s hip back, and the archangel sat back on Beelzebub’s stomach, dazed. Beelzebub so rarely allowed him the treat of having his cock sucked. The Lord of Hell licked their lips, then flicked their eyes at Gabriel.

Gabriel crept off the demon by Beelzebub’s silent command, wary of any further stimulation against his cock, and bowed to worship between their legs. He suppicated himself so that his ass was in the air, cock hard as a spear, and returned to the familiar taste he had gorged himself on the night before.

Beelzebub groaned low and ran fingers into Gabriel’s hair. They pulled his attention up, past their clit, to their cock. Gabriel acquiesced, running his tongue from base to tip and lavishing the head with attention.

Gabriel’s fingers found Beelzebub’s wet cunt and took their time tracing the familiar geography of every slick fold. A low growl told the angel he was being too gentle--one of the things most offensive to the Lord of Hell. Gabriel responded by plunging a finger deep inside, and was rewarded with a low moan of relief.

Even just pleasuring his lover with a finger was enough to send a shiver up his thighs that settled in his cock with a twitch. He swallowed Beelzebub’s cock, letting the demon grind it back into his throat. His throat tightened and he drew back with an appreciative choking sound. This only drew Beelzebub to force his head down again. The violation, the pressure, the control his lover exerted, all triggered responses of desire that kept him from cooling down at all.

By the time Beelzebub climaxed, Gabriel was hardly any less on the edge of his own. He kept two fingers inside the demon and rubbed those pulsing walls as he swallowed their spend and lifted off their cock.

The demon hummed with pleasure and continued to rock their hips against Gabriel’s fingers. “You can tuck that thing away.” Beelzebub flicked hooded eyes at Gabriel. “And get me another cupcake.”

The angel let out a breath of near-relief and slowly withdrew his fingers. “Yes, Ba’al,” he said, his sweet tone tainted with a tell-tale huskiness. He tucked himself back into his pants and kissed Beelzebub’s cheek as he stood up from the couch. Gabriel licked his fingers of Beelzebub’s taste as he walked to the kitchen, and even that sent a shiver down his spine.

Once he delivered the cupcake to his lover, Beelzebub turned onto their side. Their thighs created a pale curve around to their tight little ass, just a peek of pink between them. The demon gestured with their eyes for Gabriel to sit.

“You may continue,” Beelzebub said, but their attention was on the television.

Gabriel was still turned on, but he couldn’t help feeling a softer pleasure, a loving pleasure, to do something as mundane as this with his oft-absent lover. He ran his hand along Beelzebub’s thigh as he, too, watched the television, his fingers finding that conspicuous slick slit pressed between their thighs.

Beelzebub watched the news with droll attention as Gabriel toyed with them. Even without looking, the demon knew it drove Gabriel mad when they seemed disinterested with his ministrations. As they were finishing licking the sweet crumbs from their fingers, the angel leaned toward them, plunging two thick fingers inside insistently. Before he could claim his sweet prize of their neck, Beelzebub planted a hand against his chest and kept him from advancing.

Gabriel swallowed a frustrated sigh. Beelzebub allowed him a side-long glance long enough to catch his disappointed look and a peek at his tented pants, then just smiled with dark pleasure. That little smirk went right to the angel’s groin. 

With renewed vigor, determined to get something out of the demon, Gabriel slid another finger into their tight, slippery cunt. With Beelzebub’s thighs together, the girth of Gabriel’s fingers were pinned tight inside them and they couldn’t resist a delicious little squirm. That little tell was all Gabriel needed to encourage him to keep fingering the dismissive Lord of Hell. Gabriel felt the convulsions of their orgasm, but they gave little indication of it.

“Get me a drink from downzztairzz, would you?” Beelzebub asked in a lazy tone.

Gabriel slid his fingers slowly from inside Beelzebub’s cunt. “I could make you one up here. I have your favorite--”

“No, I want one from downstairzz.”

“Shall I call up?” he asked, dragging his gaze away from the delicious trickle over Beelzebub’s pale thigh.

“Go fetch it for me.” Beelzebub’s eyes flashed on Gabriel.

“Like this?” He laughed in disbelief.

“No.” Beelzebub frowned. “You look like a bum.” Gabriel looked highly offended. “Put on some clothes.”

Gabriel’s cock had not gone soft yet. He narrowed his eyes at Beelzebub.

“Zzomething nice,” Beelzebub drawled as they tucked their chin into their hand and looked expectantly at the angel. “Zzomething becoming of the Lord of Hell’zz concubine.”

Gabriel snorted. “Alright, princess,” he agreed.

“That’s  _ regent  _ to you, Gabriel,” Beelzebub called after the angel.

Gabriel preferred his clothes tailored the human way. He had a wardrobe full of his usual airy grays and shades of purple. So as to travel light--and keep his clothes from getting wrinkled--he didn’t actually pack clothes with him for his jaunts around the world, but would take advantage of a loophole in the ‘minor miracle’ system to simply miracle his clothes from his closet.

“What’zz taking so long?” Beelzebub shouted back to the bedroom after Gabriel had been gone some twenty minutes.

“You said something  _ nice, _ ” Gabriel called back tersely.

Gabriel finally emerged fully dressed and coiffed. The gray he had chosen was light charcoal, a shade darker than usual, and cut in the sharper style he had adopted over the past twenty years of jet-setting. The fit had fewer soft angles, instead following the lines from his broad shoulders to narrow hips. He went without a tie on his pristine white shirt, favoring instead to leave the top-most button undone. The angel was not without ornament, however. A singular golden wing was pinned to his lapel, connected with a chain to a halo pin, a pocket square folded neatly at his breast.

He struck an unaffected pose in Beelzebub’s view, adjusting his sleeve. “Acceptable?” he asked.

“Fine,” Beelzebub grumbled through their appreciative look up and down the handsome figure. “You took too long, though.”

“What do you mean, I took too long?” Gabriel looked hurt.

Beelzebub rolled their eyes and got to their feet. They rushed Gabriel’s well-dressed frame and trapped him against the kitchen island, their hands snapping to either side of him like prison gates.

“I want you thinking of me every moment you’re on your little errand.” Beelzebub’s gaze burned into Gabriel’s.

“Of course I will be--” Gabriel started sweetly, but was swiftly reminded exactly what kind of thoughts he was supposed to be distracted with as Beelzebub grabbed him roughly through his trousers. His eyes shut as Beelzebub’s rough touch quickly reinvigorated the hunger that had faded to a dull roar while he worried over what best to wear to impress his prince.

“You’re not wearing anything underneath,” Beelzebub sneered with a grin. They rumpled the fresh press of Gabriel’s shirt as they dragged him down into a searing kiss. The angel’s cock rocked hungrily into their hand as a soft moan pressed to their lips. Beelzebub withdrew to see that lust-soft gaze fall on them.

“You  _ do  _ like it rough, don’t you?” Beelzebub teased as they looked down to see that their ministrations had already resulted in a few drops upon the light charcoal of Gabriel’s trousers. “Alwayzz a mezz.” They grinned and let their hands slide up the smooth front of Gabriel’s suit and lace behind his neck.

Gabriel looked down at Beelzebub’s small breasts pressed nude against his suit and barely suppressed another moan of want. Their half-hard cock rubbed against his through his trousers as he was drawn into another melting kiss.

“Now you can go.”

“Go…?”

“Get me a drink, idiot.”

“Oh. Right.” Gabriel’s hands had found their place wrapped around Beelzebub’s waist and the last thing he wanted right now was to leave.

Beelzebub’s hands dropped and he broke Gabriel’s reassuring hold with sharp elbows. The demon took a moment to straighten Gabriel’s shirt where they had creased it. “Don’t keep me waiting.”

Gabriel watched with longing as Beelzebub walked away from him and flopped back onto the couch. He cleared his throat and took a moment to adjust his suit, but there was no helping the hunger focused solely between his legs.

  
  



	8. The Earth Observation Files

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Continuing the day of Beelzebub's thousand pleasures, Gabriel gets a request to revisit some of the saucier Earth Observation Files.

Gabriel returned with two cocktails--one of them half-drunk by the time he returned. “Your drink, Ba’al,” he delivered it with a smirk. “I could have made you one better. They don’t even have your favorite vodka downstairs.”

Beelzebub smirked back up at Gabriel. “But then I wouldn’t have you all drezzed up.”

“You like the suit?” he asked and sat beside his lover.

Beelzebub gave Gabriel an appreciative look. “It’s alright, I guezz.”

Gabriel took it as glowing praise.

“Zzay, Mezzenger?”

Gabriel lifted a brow.

“You uzzed to be the patron zzaint of telecommunicationzz.”

“Still am, technically.” Gabriel took a sip of his cocktail with a smug look. “Lot of paperwork involved getting the memo down to the humans that the patron saint has changed.”

Beelzebub grinned. They could see the pride Gabriel took in still holding onto some of his prestige, even if it was just on Earth. “Think you could work your magic for a zzpecial requezzt?”

“What did you have in mind?”

“Do you ztill have accezz to the Earth Obzzervation Filez?”

“What for?” Gabriel’s brow creased in confusion.

“They obzzerve everything, don’t they?”

“Why are you asking me--you have access to them…”

“Have you ever watched any of ourzz?”

Gabriel’s eyes widened as realization dawned on him. His look of surprise turned to devious disbelief. “Oh, now  _ that’s  _ wicked, Beelzebub.”

Beelzebub practically giggled.

“ _ And  _ dangerous. If I pull up those files…” Gabriel’s cheeks puffed as he exhaled slowly.

“What’re they gonna do, Gabriel?” Beelzebub said flippantly.

“They’ll know I pulled them up. Here.”

“Zzo you’re embarrazzed.”

“A little.” Gabriel turned pink. “I like to think they just, er… sweep those files under the rug.”

Beelzebub sighed in disappointment.

Gabriel hesitated. He gave Beelzebub an imploring look. The demon just fixed him with an expectant stare. The angel sighed and pushed himself back up to his feet. “What do you want to see?” he asked as he approached the television.

Beelzebub spread themself languidly on the couch and sipped at their cocktail. They buzzed thoughtfully. “Do you remember that very firzzt time?”

Gabriel balked. “Oh, come on. In Amsterdam?” He cringed. “I was an idiot then.”

“Ztill are,” Beelzebub preened.

“Do you mean that time, or the time you lied about?” Gabriel shot back. “Let’s see what really happened that night.”

“Nothing happened that night! I told you.”

Gabriel knew Beelzebub far too well by now to ignore the pressure in their tone. He narrowed his eyes at Beelzebub and tapped a finger on the screen. The display flickered with a flash of holy light, then flickered a test pattern to calibrate.

Beelzebub groaned. “Nothing happened,” they insisted.

Gabriel folded his arms and took in the scene now displayed on the television. Beelzebub’s dimly lit apartment was difficult to make out, but Gabriel watched as the Lord of Hell grumbled and shouldered the dead weight of his drunken body out of what must have been the bathroom and dumped him unceremoniously onto the couch.

After the Beelzebub on screen poured themself another drink, they had a rather long, rambling conversation with the unconscious Gabriel about what a shit he was. Then the drunk Lord of Hell rambled about how “dizguzztingly handsome” he was while studying his slack face. The on-screen demon told Gabriel their plan, how they were going to trick him into thinking he had sullied his holy temple with sin. Then, they hefted the archangel up on their shoulder again and dragged him into their bedroom.

“Lot of heavy lifting for a joke,” Gabriel teased Beelzebub.

“That’zz it.” A dark cloud was brewing over Beelzebub’s expression.

“No, no--now what’s this?”

The twenty year old recording showed the Lord of Hell lie beside the archangel. They jerked closer and moved Gabriel’s limp arm under their neck, then laid their head on his chest, fingers wandering over his slowly rising and falling chest.

“You  _ cuddled  _ with me that first night!” Gabriel gasped and turned to Beelzebub with the most hideously sunny smile Beelzebub had ever seen.

“I  _ did not. _ That’zz not what I wazz doing.”

“That is  _ absolutely  _ what you’re doing.” Gabriel paused the playback and stared at the screen, giddy. “Oh, how precious…”

“Zzhut it!” Beelzebub threw their cocktail glass at Gabriel. The angel was perceptive enough to stop its trajectory mid-air with a miracle but did not take his eyes from the screen. Gabriel sighed with pleasure and let the cocktail glass drop into his waiting hand.

“Now, what was it you wanted to watch?” Gabriel turned to his fuming lover with a dopey grin.

Beelzebub had their arms crossed over their chest as they glared daggers at Gabriel.

“Don’t be so sour.” Gabriel grinned. “You want to embarrass me? Fine, we’ll watch what happened after I stumbled out of your apartment.” With a snap, Gabriel ran the celestial tape forward to the following morning. He cringed as he returned to the couch, watching himself stagger about with his first ever hangover as Beelzebub just oozed confidence with their suggestive swagger. The recording followed Gabriel out of the apartment and stumbling into a junkie as he panicked with the new information that they had apparently slept with the Lord of Hell.

Gabriel looked at Beelzebub out of the corner of his eye and saw the demon smothering a smirk with a tightly clenched fist. The angel relaxed some and let his hand wander over to the demon’s ankle. “Amsterdam?” he asked as he traced the delicate bone of Beelzebub’s ankle.

“Amsterdam,” Beelzebub agreed, eager to get past that embarrassing first night. Gabriel had it all wrong, they kept telling themself. Deep down, they knew they had been curious, in their inebriated state, what it would feel like to press themself against the archangel’s body. It was a stupid curiosity, but… ultimately, years later, they had come to discover there was some pleasure to be had in resting against that strong angelic frame.

The angel gradually convinced Beelzebub’s feet into his lap. He fully expected to be nothing short of embarrassed watching himself stumble blindly into Beelzebub’s fly trap of sin and seduction. But, seeing it from the outside, he found himself enthralled by Beelzebub’s powerful command over him. He remembered that night, though he had many more scenes and memories since with Beelzebub that he preferred over it.

Beelzebub’s slender foot pressed against the crotch of his trousers, awakening that barely dozing arousal left unrelieved. The demon grinned. “Your firzzt cock. And you didn’t even know it.”

“You’re a sly bastard,” Gabriel growled. He pulled Beelzebub by the ankle and dragged their lithe form into his lap. He didn’t want Beelzebub to miss the show, so he positioned their back against his chest, facing toward the screen. All the better to have that precious rump seated fully against his hips.

Beelzebub reclined against his broad chest and Gabriel’s hands slid up from their narrow waist. His fingertips dragged over their nipples before his hands fully covered the small swells of their breasts.

“Imagine if I had fucked you that night…” Beelzebub buzzed. “You might have really had the zenze not to come back.” The demon rocked their hips down into Gabriel’s lap.

“Imagine if  _ I  _ had taken you that first night,” Gabriel whispered with dark promise and a slow thrust against his lover. He kissed down Beelzebub’s throat and used a minor miracle to get his cock free.

Beelzebub was surprised Gabriel would waste his several limited powers to do something so unequivocally sinful, but they were hardly one to complain as they felt his thick cock against their backside. “It would have been a pitiful zzight.”

Gabriel wrapped a strong arm around Beelzebub’s ribcage and lifted their light frame enough that he could get his cock up against their cunt. He hummed his pleasure against Beelzebub’s neck, grinding his cock against their slick sex. “What if I had shocked you that night?” Gabriel jabbed suddenly inside his lover, enough to elicit a low gasp. “Gone from simpering, love-blind idiot to,” he hilted deep inside the demon, “ravishing lover.”

Beelzebub pressed back against Gabriel, sliding their body up and down against his fine suit and that wonderful cock seated inside them. “You’re not even capable. Then  _ or  _ now,” Beelzebub jeered.

Gabriel speared Beelzebub sharply as he held the Lord of Hell tightly by their breasts. The demon bit their lip. “Watch me,” Gabriel said lightly. One of his hands moved to hold Beelzebub’s chin in place, fixed on the sight of a scene long since past. “Watch me whimper and beg while I take you now,” he husked.

Beelzebub enjoyed the sight of the naive Gabriel of the past, made all the more delicious by the way Gabriel moved his cock in long, slow strokes in and out of their body. The angel held them suspended as his cock pierced them, heavy, deep breaths ghosting against their throat. Gabriel was quick on the up-take, they’d give him credit for that.

Riding on the previous highs, Gabriel relished the feeling of Beelzebub captured in his embrace. He chased the pleasure, hungry to make his lover moan, react, anything but their usual composure. He imagined he was back there that night. Instead of following orders, he would surprise Beelzebub like this, pin them to that bed and fuck them until they saw stars. He pumped harder into Beelzebub and the demon arched against him. He felt their breathing grow ragged against his hand pressed against their throat.

Gabriel’s own labored breathing ghosted over Beelzebub’s throat. He felt his cock tightening, that shiver and tingle of orgasm creeping up like vines and he was forced to slow in erratic, wanting thrusts. He shivered as he let Beelzebub sink down one last time on his cock.

“Hm. So much for a ravishing lover,” Beelzebub sneered.

Gabriel laughed breathlessly against their shoulder. His muscles shook with effort to resist the urge to release. The demon’s searing heat pulsating around him made it a real challenge, but he didn’t mind bringing himself to the brink again and again. It built up the promise of the climax to end all climaxes.

“Mmm, I do like having you like thizz…” Beelzebub mused as they settled comfortably on his thick fit-to-burst cock. “The feed izz over.” Gabriel shivered as the prince rolled their hips against him, suddenly aware of how hot he was in his suit. “What zzhould we watch next?”

Gabriel could barely stand to kiss the demon’s flesh, weakened by the mounting of yet another denied orgasm and the continued stimulation.

“Gabriel,” Beelzebub insisted and angled their head to look at him.

“What about… th-that time in Paris?” Gabriel found it impossible not to keep running his fingers over Beelzebub’s skin, despite how that made him want the demon all the more.

“When I fucked you in that filthy alley?” Beelzebub ran their hand between their legs, rubbing the scant inch of Gabriel’s cock not buried deep in their cunt. Gabriel shuddered, which did nothing to alleviate the intensity of being sheathed inside the demon. “Nearly had to zzmother you to keep from zzcreaming. Thought you were embarrazzed of that time.”

Gabriel held Beelzebub around the waist desperately, torn between wanting every inch of the demon against him and wanting some reprieve from the torturous heat of it all. “I was,” he said in a small voice. “I am.” He kissed at Beelzebub’s neck shyly, barely able to focus enough to switch the feed over to the correct file. He snapped it on clumsily.

“You like being humiliated…” Beelzebub coiled an arm around Gabriel’s square jaw and ran fingers into his hair. The demon tensed around Gabriel’s cock with a roll of their hips. “Don’t you?”

Gabriel took in a shaking breath and squeezed Beelzebub’s hip, his grip tight enough to bruise. “No…” he denied loftily.

“Don’t  _ lie,  _ Archangel,” Beelzebub sneered and tugged at his hair. “You know what happenzz to angelzz who lie.” The demon tormented Gabriel with another delicious squeeze.

The angel dug blunt nails into Beelzebub’s vellum flesh.

“Or wazz it how I covered your mouth while I fucked you blind?” Beelzebub asked as they rubbed their slickness over the throbbing base of Gabriel’s cock with their fingers.

Gabriel muffled his whimper against Beelzebub’s neck, teeth sinking into a pale cord. He almost regretted it as Beelzebub’s body responsed to the stimuli and milked his cock hungrily. To make it worse, Beelzebub actually moaned.

“Watch, Gabriel. It’zz getting good.” Beelzebub pulled his hair to force his gaze to the television.

Gabriel watched as the Beelzebub on the screen shoved him against the rough brick lit only by hellish red neon. He saw his past self’s resolve melt away against Beelzebub’s demanding lips, and a fresh flood of heat assaulted him. He couldn’t hear any of Beelzebub’s words from the feed, but he remembered.  _ I don’t have time. If you want it that badly, I’ll juzzt fuck you here. _ Even then, when he had protested, it wasn’t genuine. Immediately, he had wanted Beelzebub to fuck him there--anywhere. 

They’d had a lovely night--that, too, he remembered with crystal clarity--but Beelzebub had seemed tetchy, more short tempered than usual. He’d planned to take Beelzebub back to his hotel, let the demon work off some steam. Beelzebub told him he didn’t have time. That was when…

The demon in his lap sat forward and Gabriel saw stars. His nails raked over Beelzebub’s hip, and when his vision came into focus, his lover’s beautiful back was arched in front of him, that perfect ass seated right against the fine charcoal of his suit.

Beelzebub dribbled some of their gooey spit down on their own cock, and sighed with satisfaction as they sat with Gabriel’s cock pressed in just the right spot. They could feel his cock throbbing inside them with every stroke they passed over their own cock.

“Mm.. ‘z a zzhame you can’t fuck me like that…”

It was all Gabriel could do not to. He wanted desperately to shove Beelzebub onto the coffee table and fuck them senseless, but they knew it would be his end. He grit his teeth as Beelzebub moaned in earnest, fucking their own slick hand while he was trapped inside them on the brink of losing it.

“Gabriel…” Beelzebub moaned and rocked back against him, displaying themself in all their horny glory.

“That’s--” Gabriel gasped and dragged nails down Beelzebub’s side, “n-not fair…” He felt himself slipping, the mounting pleasure unbearable, like a bow drawn to the point of snapping. To hear his name on the demon’s lips, so dripping with sin, while that perfect white body sat on his cock, flush only where their cock was being pumped to glistening, was maddening.

Lily-white thighs shivered and trembled as Beelzebub neared their orgasm. Gabriel’s trousers were damp from Beelzebub’s filled cunt oozing. Suddenly, Beelzebub dragged back against Gabriel’s body and his cock slipped from their body. The pull of that thickness from inside them, one last stroke against all the right places, ripped a groan from their body as they came, pumping their spend against their chest.

Gabriel groaned desperately at the erotic display, and his own cock wept against his blazer pitifully.

Beelzebub stayed just there, slowly stroking themself through the ebbing waves of pleasure, Gabriel’s head tucked against their shoulder to make sure he didn’t miss a thing.

“Another pleazzure for me…” Beelzebub sighed. They could feel Gabriel trembling, clawing at their hip. The demon shifted their weight, switched the position of their knees so they faced Gabriel, but stayed with their thighs fully extended so as not to tempt Gabriel’s desperate cock. “Only another few hundred more before you get yourzz.” Beelzebub looked down at Gabriel with dark promise.

The angel wore that ruined look that Beelzebub so loved. They didn’t care much for blindfolds because it meant missing that broken look. With a flick of their hooded eyes, they gave Gabriel permission to do what he so desperately wanted to--lick up the come spilled across their flesh. He did it like a drowning man gasping for air, beyond mere necessity, but was forced to still himself to kisses as he shook with want.

“What do you want to watch next?” Beelzebub purred.


	9. Room Service

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel's longest day ever continues. Before Beelzebub's through with him, he's going to have to talk to Dagon on the phone while he's so horny he can't see straight, and get fucked through a several course meal. Anything for his demon.

“Thank you for the pornography,” Beelzebub buzzed pleasantly as they fell back to the couch.

Gabriel lay sprawled on the other end of the couch, his fine suit rumpled and half undone. The angel himself was fully undone. Hours had slipped by his notice, trapped at his breaking point. The demon took their pleasure and left him begging, pleading for more, crying for release. His cock stood a monument to his desperation, angry red and pulsating, weeping and slick.

“You look like you’re about to zznap,” Beelzebub said conversationally. This game had been a welcome reprieve from their dire thoughts.

“I think you’ve broken me,” Gabriel croaked and let out a ragged breath. “How many more pleasures to go?”

“Hm. I’ve lozzt count.”

Gabriel let out a sound that was half laugh and half sob.

“I’m going to order up some food. Do you want anything?”

Gabriel couldn’t think straight, much less imagine anything he might consider eating. He licked his lips and could taste the demon on his skin. A soft moan left his lips before he could manage a negatory grunt.

While Beelzebub called the restaurant downstairs, Gabriel took a moment to breathe. He looked up at the ceiling, willing himself not to look at temptation incarnate sitting on the other end of the couch. He closed his eyes and listened to Beelzebub lazily order about half the menu. It was no wonder, Gabriel thought with a smile, he’d really worked up an appetite in his lover.

Just as he caught his breath, it was sucked right back out of him as Beelzebub’s fingers wrapped around his cock. He groaned loudly as the sensation set fire to his skin once more. Beelzebub paused on the phone and turned to him. “Keep it down,” they growled with a nasty smirk as they stroked his desperate cock.

Gabriel bit his lip and gave Beelzebub an apologetic, pleading look. The Lord of Hell returned to their order on the phone. It was torture to be touched so slowly and methodically while Beelzebub wasn’t even paying attention to him. He tried to bite back his whimpers of pleasure. Beelzebub’s touch wasn’t enough to push him to orgasm--just enough to keep him wanting.

“Zzhit,” the demon muttered as they looked at their phone after hanging up. They didn’t stop touching him, so Gabriel figured it couldn’t be anything too important. “I knew I had zzomething I had to do today…”

“Wh-what?” Gabriel breathed, then gasped as Beelzebub ran a nail over the sensitive head of his cock.

“Zzupposed to have a meeting with Dagon about dividing the labor in Canada.”

Gabriel shivered as he sat up. “A-are you going to go?” he asked.

Beelzebub finally spared Gabriel a look. The devious glint of his lover’s eyes made Gabriel’s cock throb and draw another moan of want out of him. “And leave you like thizz?” they buzzed. “Tempting, but no.” Beelzebub tapped at their phone, then put it up to their ear and pinned it against their shoulder.

“I’ll juzzt call,” they murmured. “But you…” The demon crept closer, crawling up onto Gabriel’s thighs, just a whisper away from their cock touching Gabriel’s. “... Need to be quiet.” Beelzebub kept stroking Gabriel and used their free hand to cover his mouth, shoving him roughly back down onto the couch. The angel choked on a moan, fighting to keep it down.

While Beelzebub dispassionately discussed business on the phone, they had Gabriel writhing beneath them, driven near mad just from the slow pumping of his cock and a hand smothering his mouth. The delicious scenario had the predictable effect on the demon. They let go of Gabriel’s cock in favor of taking the phone in hand and switching to their other ear. Gabriel panted desperately against their hand. As they rocked their hips forward, grinding their arousal against the angel’s, Gabriel bit back a groan with a growl.

“Yezz, I’m here with Gabriel,” the angel barely registered what Beelzebub was saying in those even, officious tones. “He hazz zzomething to zzay to you.” Beelzebub brought the phone away from their ear and pressed their hand more firmly on Gabriel’s mouth. “Tell Dagon how grateful you are for doing all the hard work zzo you can zzpend today with me,” Beelzebub hissed, then lifted their hand from Gabriel’s mouth.

The angel gasped for air, then swallowed and tried to find a scrap of his mind that wasn’t being assaulted with pleasure. Beelzebub held the phone up to his ear and Gabriel cringed as he tried to control his breathing. “D-Dagon,” he summoned forth his business-like tone. “Thanks for…” his breath caught as Beelzebub slid their dripping cunt against his shaft, “for--ah!--for letting me steal your boss.”

“I am my Lord’s will,” Dagon replied, nonplussed.

Beelzebub brought the phone back to their ear with a cheshire cat smile and hooded eyes. Gabriel bit his lip hard, holding onto Beelzebub’s hips for dear life as the demon rode his cock against his stomach. Minutes dripped by in glorious agony, Beelzebub discussing the minutiae of redistributing top-side demons while they rubbed their clit against the lip of Gabriel’s cockhead and busied his mouth with their fingers.

Beelzebub finally finished on the phone and tossed it aside in favor of kissing Gabriel hard. “You are deliciouzz,” the demon growled in praise and Gabriel moaned in relief that he didn’t have to stifle himself anymore. Beelzebub allowed themself to rest against Gabriel, the angel’s cock pinned between them. “I zzhould do that more often,” they murmured. “Make meetingzz a lot more interezzting.”

Gabriel panted, almost able to relax now that Beelzebub wasn’t grinding against him. “You’re a menace,” he whined.

“That’zz my job.” Beelzebub grinned.

“Next time,” Gabriel breathed, “I’ll be the one distracting you.”

“Next time?” Beelzebub lifted an eyebrow.

Gabriel laughed breathlessly. “No! I don’t mean it. I’m not doing that.”

“You juzzt zzaid you would. Zzounds like a binding contract to me.”

“You’d think I’d learned my lesson by now about making promises to demons.”

“Can’t truzzt a demon, except to fulfill a contract.” Beelzebub felt sated enough to just lay there with Gabriel a moment.

Gabriel could tell Beelzebub was in a rare content mood, and he dare not disturb it. Moments like this only came but once every year or two, when the demon would just look into his eyes and let him feel their appreciation. The angel tempted fate by running his fingers up Beelzebub’s spine to brush through their hair.

Beelzebub tilted their head down, breaking that sought-after gaze to kiss Gabriel’s chest. They moved slowly down Gabriel’s body with their lips, dragging teeth over his musculature.

Gabriel shifted and sighed under Beelzebub’s soft touch. This was the real torture--when Beelzebub was tender with him, it made him truly crazy with desire. He didn’t think Beelzebub _ could _be tender, but the demon had proven over the years that they were capable of it. They knew exactly what they were doing to him.

“You’re beautiful,” Beelzebub whispered against his skin and he shuddered. “A corporation zzculpted with zzuch pride…” Gabriel trembled, sucking in a shaking breath. “Zzuch a gorgeous cock for me,” they praised, lips barely brushing against the praise-worthy flesh.

Gabriel moaned and tangled his fingers in Beelzebub’s hair. “S-stop…” he breathed. 

“Zzuch a good lover…” Beelzebub buzzed and kissed Gabriel’s cock.

The angel groaned and dug his heels into the couch.

“Zzo obedient.” Beelzebub’s lips melted against Gabriel’s cock and he heaved with a dry sob of want. “Alwayzz at my beck and call…” Beelzebub looked up at Gabriel writhing, broken for them.

“B-Bee… I can’t…”

“Your Ba’al wants to praizze you. Are you going to deny me that?”

Gabriel whimpered and his cock oozed generously. “You know I can’t…” he groaned.

“Can’t handle thizz?” Beelzebub smiled. “Can’t handle a little treat?” The demon brought Gabriel’s cock to their waiting tongue and lapped at the oozing tip. Gabriel moaned desperately, wordless pleas babbling from his lips as Beelzebub sank down his cock. The angel’s fingers tore at the couch as he shook with the effort not to let himself tumble over the precipice.

Beelzebub could feel Gabriel’s control slipping. They knew his body well, and they weren’t ready for Gabriel to come just yet. “Mm… I like hurting you like thizz,” they mused as they admired Gabriel’s desperation. “Does it hurt, not being allowed to come?”

Gabriel nodded.

Beelzebub stroked his wet cock, spreading their slick saliva over it slowly. “Hm?”

“Y-yes!” Gabriel cried and tensed. His cock throbbed and ejected a small spurt of precome.

“Oh, zzo clozze. Don’t come yet.” Beelzebub leaned up to catch Gabriel’s lips in a soul-scorching kiss, slow and sensual. Gabriel almost wept.

A knock at the door interrupted the kiss.

“Ah. The food’zz here.” Beelzebub gave Gabriel one last quick kiss, and then left him.

The angel nearly grabbed Beelzebub and refused to let them go, but his body was too senseless to move.

“You zztay right there,” Beelzebub purred and walked to the door. They opened it, unbothered exposing their nakedness or state of arousal. The concierge was less unbothered by it, but it was hardly the first time.

“You can bring that in here,” Beelzebub said of the cart laden with plates upon plates of fine food. They stepped aside to allow the concierge in.

Gabriel wanted to make himself presentable. He didn’t want to be seen in this state, broken with pleasure and desperate for more, but he was in no state to move. Color rose to his cheeks as the concierge noticed him, then quickly looked away. Gabriel’s head fell back, humiliated but unable to deny his cock still aching for more.

“Izzn’t he handzzome?” Beelzebub asked the concierge with just enough demonic influence that the stranger couldn’t leave without answering. “Even when he’zz zzuch a mess…”

The concierge flushed, rooted to the spot. “Erm… y-yes.”

“Would you like to touch him?” Beelzebub asked.

Gabriel felt a cold thread of fear at the question. They had never invited anyone into the bedroom with them, much less some nobody human.

Compelled to answer honestly, the concierge replied, “Yes.”

“Well, you’ll have to zzit with that dezzire for the rezzt of your life.” Beelzebub smiled dangerously at the human. “He’zz not yourzz to touch.”

Gabriel shivered, a fresh wave of strange pleasure rushing under his skin at the knowledge that Beelzebub claimed him for themself alone.

“You may leave,” Beelzebub allowed. They shut the door behind the human and padded over to the cart to lift one of the domes over the plates and appreciate the aroma.

“You wouldn’t have…” Gabriel murmured.

“Hell no,” Beelzebub snapped. “Juzzt a little temptation.”

Gabriel looked relieved.

“You’re mine.”

The angel smiled, filled with so much love and desire for the Lord of Hell. “Only yours.”

“Mm… have my hands buzzy while I eat, but I think I can still fuck you.”

“You’re going to make a mess, aren’t you?”

“Not so long as you zztay zztill.”

Gabriel let out a heavy sigh. So far, Beelzebub hadn’t been inside him. Being reminded of the fact made him ache, his insides gnawing at the vacancy.

“You’ll make a fine table.” Beelzebub miracled the coffee table aside with a snap. It dragged over the hardwood floor and left scratches in its wake. Had Gabriel been in his right mind, he would have complained, but as it was, scratches on the hardwood were the least of his concern. Beelzebub had only to gesture toward the floor in front of where they had been seated for Gabriel to know what his lover wanted of him.

The angel stood on shaky legs and dropped trou before he got to his knees. The floor was unforgiving, and Gabriel was sure Beelzebub would take their sweet time, nevermind his knees. As Beelzebub brought over a plate of fragrant steak, they took a morsel from it and offered it to Gabriel. The angel took the offering, cleaning Beelzebub’s fingers with his tongue. The taste of their mingled arousal was unmistakable under the fine flavor of the meat.

Beelzebub took their seat on the couch and placed the plate on Gabriel’s back, his shirt making a suitable tablecloth. The demon admired the angel’s upturned rear, appreciating the display with their hands. They bent down and sank their teeth into one of Gabriel’s ass cheeks, which made the angel jerk and almost upset the plate.

“Oi, what did I tell you?” Beelzebub sneered. “Be zztill.”

Gabriel tried to suppress a shiver as Beelzebub’s hands kneaded his backside. He felt a warm thumb trace over his entrance, teasing his overstimulated flesh.

“How long hazz it been since I’ve been inzzide you?” Beelzebub mused. “Not in your cunt, but in your tight little azz?”

Gabriel groaned and pressed into Beelzebub’s touch. “Too long,” he moaned.

“Three monthzz?” Beelzebub wondered aloud. They could feel Gabriel getting impatient for more, the angel’s desire to be filled tangible. “Do you play with any of your toyzz when I’m not around?”

“S-sometimes,” Gabriel whispered. “It’s… it’s not the same.”

“I know,” Beelzebub said sympathetically. Their hands left Gabriel’s flesh and the angel presented himself all the more desperately. The next thing he felt was Beelzebub’s slick cock against his skin.

“Oh--” Gabriel had but a split second to steel himself before Beelzebub speared him, unprepared. His nails scraped the wood floor as he fought to keep himself upright and not crumple into a heap of mewling need. “_ Bee,” _ he moaned plaintively.

Beelzebub settled deep inside Gabriel with a smile, rubbing a hand slowly over his lower back. “That’zz better.” The demon rocked their hips to sink even deeper and rub up against his prostate. Gabriel shuddered with such strength that the silverware rattled on the plate balanced on his back.

Gabriel could hear Beelzebub devouring their meal, particularly delicious mouthfuls earning him that cock rocking inside him. He was dizzy with Beelzebub keeping him so full, but his overstimulated cock had a break from being the sole source of mounting desire.

Once Beelzebub had finished their first plate, they put it aside and treated Gabriel to their cock slowly dragging out. His breath caught as he felt Beelzebub leaving him, and he outright gasped as he was suddenly left empty again. The demon retrieved another plate from the cart and returned, once more balancing their treat atop the angel’s shivering back. Their relentless cock sank inside Gabriel again and the angel nearly buckled.

“Mm, this is much more entertaining than juzzt watching me eat, izzn’t it?” Beelzebub teased Gabriel as they plunged deep, pelvis fitted just-so against the angel’s tight rump.

Gabriel could only moan in response. He looked hazily at the cart laden with plates and plates of food and didn’t doubt for a second that Beelzebub could consume it in one long sitting. His cock throbbed in protest at the thought, but being so deliciously filled, not even fucked, but just filled made him deliriously satisfied.

During the mid-meal dessert course, Beelzebub found the offerings so delightful that they pumped their climax into the angel and upset the plate to the floor. Gabriel received a spank for that that almost undid him as he crumpled to the floor, panting. By his Ba’al’s command, he made his way shakily back up onto his hands and the meal resumed.

It was getting dark by the time Beelzebub finally polished off the last course and Gabriel was wrecked. When the demon commanded him to sit up and ride their cock, he wept with relief. The thick, still cock inside him made him yearn for Beelzebub to fuck him, even as his body protested it had had too much. He rode his lover, cock bobbing untouched and dripping, as Beelzebub’s merciless hand clutched his throat and made him see stars.

Beelzebub’s pleasure was his only thought. When he felt the demon climax in him, he was deliriously happy, his own orgasm long since forgotten. It felt as if he would be like this for eternity, there purely for Beelzebub to use and play with, always on the brink but never finding relief. The demon slid free and Gabriel turned to shower them with kisses.

“Oh, you’re _ there, _” Beelzebub preened. They welcomed this desperate, lust-crazed angel into their arms. Gabriel was all lips and tongue and teeth and fingers, worshipping every inch of the demon selflessly. Beelzebub had driven Gabriel to this point before--it was a slow burn, an intricate operation, driving him slowly mad until he was both utterly submissive and utterly aggressive. No longer a cognizant angel, but a tool of pure lust. The first time they’d driven Gabriel mad like this, they’d half-feared his state would be a Falling offense itself.

The angel grabbed Beelzebub roughly to the edge of the couch and kissed them hard into the cushions. His cock rutted lewdly against the demon’s cunt, then plunged inside without preamble. Beelzebub moaned hungrily against Gabriel’s lips and tore at his hair. The angel jerked Beelzebub’s hips sharply against his own. A strong hand wrapped around the demon’s throat, holding them down as Gabriel fucked them mindlessly. Gone was the tender angel who, even when acting as the aggressor, would slowly build up to a proper fucking. Gabriel was driven by an animalistic lust, his lavender eyes hard and steely.

Beelzebub praised Gabriel in loud moans and raked their nails down his chest. When Gabriel got like this, Beelzebub was practically forced to surrender. The angel could break them with his feral hunger. The demon writhed as Gabriel fucked them to a gasping orgasm, clawing at his vice-like grip on their throat. Even then, he didn’t stop. He kept pounding into them, responding to Beelzebub’s cries of ecstasy alone.

The Lord of Hell’s neck was ringed red and bruised by the time they cried out hoarsely, “You’re zzafe!” They gasped, reeling from the intense fucking. “Gabriel, you’re zzafe,” Beelzebub moaned.

The angel halted for a moment, then loosened his hand around Beelzebub’s throat. Gabriel fell forward to bury a whimper in the crook of Beelzebub’s neck. His thrusts were softer, now, but no less desperate and deep. The angel wrapped Beelzebub up tightly in his arms, clinging to them as he shuddered and moaned hoarsely against their neck. His orgasm finally crashed over him and he wept with relief. He sobbed as he pumped all of his pent up, almost-there orgasms into the demon. He was floating in blinding ecstasy for what felt like hours, until his come was dripping out of Beelzebub and onto the wood floor.

Beelzebub soothed some of the scratch marks they had left on the angel with kisses and let themself feel small in Gabriel’s embrace. Gabriel shuddered with his last thrust, and then fell out of the demon with a whimper.

“Fuck, you’re hot when you get there,” Beelzebub breathed. Gabriel lay his cheek on their breast and tried to remember how to breathe. The Lord of Hell stroked Gabriel’s hair and looked down at his scraped and scratched, trembling body. They could see the scars on his back, still red, angry welts even after all these years.

“I love you,” Gabriel whispered hoarsely. The aftershocks were washing over him, wave after wave, and made him smile after so much suffering.

Beelzebub traced their nails over a series of raw, red scratches and kissed Gabriel’s brow. “You’re worthy,” they said quietly.

Gabriel squeezed the petite demon in his arms. Beelzebub might not be willing to admit their love, but Gabriel adored his lover’s scripted response after two decades. ‘You’re worthy’ was more precious to him than any meager ‘I love you.’

“I don’t think I can move…” Gabriel whispered once he was no longer gasping for air.

“You’re gonna have to. My neck’zz all cramped.”

Gabriel groaned as he slowly dragged himself back. He sat back on his heels and watched Beelzebub sit up and stretch. His face fell in horror as he saw the red and purple ruin of Beelzebub’s neck. “Oh, Hell--what did I do?” he gasped, worried eyes darting over Beelzebub’s bruised throat as his hands hesitated to cradle the demon’s jaw.

“Hm? Are there markzz?” Beelzebub drawled.

“You should have stopped me!” Gabriel cried.

“Gabriel,” Beelzebub held one of the angel’s wrists and turned to kiss his palm. “I _ like _ being choked. You never have the ballzz to do it properly when you’re not…” The demon grinned deviously, “like _ that. _”

“It looks horrific.” Gabriel frowned.

“Zztop whining,” Beelzebub growled. “Conzzider it… another reward.” The demon guided Gabriel’s hand to their neck, encouraging him to touch the marks. “Only you are worthy of marking the flesh of the Lord of Hell.”

Gabriel tried to appreciate the sentiment. He was a warrior at heart, but it wasn’t in his nature to wish harm on the person he loved, regardless of whether they were his occult enemy or how much they enjoyed it.

“Kiss it,” Beelzebub encouraged.

Gabriel lifted himself up on shaky thighs and brought Beelzebub’s neck to his lips. He kissed the tender flesh apologetically and Beelzebub buzzed with pleasure. The raw, bruised skin tingled under Gabriel’s gentle kisses.

“Will you help me to the shower?” Gabriel asked softly.

“Mmn, I zzuppose,” Beelzebub agreed quietly. They stood on thighs still atremble from the delicious fucking Gabriel had given them, careless of the mess sliding down their legs or the spend squished under their feet. The demon had to bodily lift their much larger lover and support him around the waist. His legs were practically useless as he hobbled against Beelzebub to the opulent bathroom.

“I think you’ve tainted me…” Gabriel said as he leaned against the wall beside the shower.

Beelzebub looked at him sharply.

“Sometimes you bring out this… demon in me,” he said in a dazed voice as he stared at the marks on the prince’s neck.

“Don’t even joke about that,” Beelzebub scoffed and bristled uncomfortably.

“I know, I know. You’d destroy me if I Fell,” Gabriel said pleasantly.

“That, or myzzelf,” Beelzebub muttered.


	10. Ignore the Smoke

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel is frustrated that Beelzebub feels he's in need of rescuing. Beelzebub goads him into taking some of those frustrations out on them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter title is from ["Blue"](https://youtu.be/zlysZAUNyFg) by A Perfect Circle. Highly recommended listening! Also, to clarify: I've described Beelzebub's eyes as coal black throughout this series because <s>I'm an idiot and forgot they have blue eyes canonically</s> reasons.
> 
> **CW for this chapter:** consensual non-consent, forced alteration of biology, use of Enochian commands

“Your eyes are blue.”

“ _ What? _ ”

“Your eyes. They’re blue.” 

“That’zz all you have to zzay?”

The alley in which a former archangel had been cornered was now littered with several prone humans, necks broken, hands on guns at unnatural angles where their wrists had been snapped, bones sticking out from flesh.

“How did I never notice your eyes were blue?”

“They’re  _ not,” _ Beelzebub growled fiercely.

“Surely I would have noticed. Since when have your eyes been blue?”

“You’re zzuch a fucking idiot, I wouldn’t be surprizzed if you didn’t notice.” Beelzebub stepped over a corpse. “Really? That’zz what you have to zzay after you nearly got killed for breaking curfew? For fuck’zz zake. Thizz iz really zztupid, even for you.”

Gabriel sighed and adjusted his coat. “I didn’t realize there was a curfew. This is a nice part of Florence.” He narrowed his gaze at Beelzebub. “I would have been fine. You didn’t have to…” He waved his hands at the carnage.

“Oh, you were doing  _ zzuch  _ a good job of talking your way out of it,” Beelzebub sneered as they stopped in front of Gabriel.

“Did you just miss me?” Gabriel asked with a smile. It had hardly been a week since he had last seen Beelzebub, that glorious day of teetering on the precipice while his lover used him for their thousand pleasures.

The demon scowled and crossed their arms over their chest. They would not admit to keeping an eye on Gabriel, nor to worrying about his presence in dangerous places. They would never admit their concern about the fact that Heaven sent him into warzones with limited powers, where he could easily be discorporated and have to suffer the pain of death and the embarrassment of returning to Heaven where he was ridiculed and mocked.

“Regardless…” Gabriel sighed, unable to shake the feeling of being made powerless--not the delicious surrender he so enjoyed in intimate moments with Beelzebub, but true powerlessness. “You didn’t  _ have  _ to.” While he was glad to see Beelzebub, he disliked the feeling of being saved. He was the Archangel fucking Gabriel. Perhaps no longer an archangel, but he still had confidence in his limited powers and didn’t care for being rescued like some damsel in distress.

“You’re weak,” Beelzebub reminded him casually.

Gabriel bristled and glared at the Lord of Hell.

“What?” Beelzebub laughed. “You are.”

“I am not weak,” Gabriel said coldly.

“And just what would you have done against those thugzz, sunzzhine?” Beelzebub asked sweetly.

“I wouldn’t have  _ killed  _ them, for one,” he scolded.

Beelzebub fell in stride beside Gabriel as they walked away from the alley. “You would have  _ zzaved  _ them with your holy wordzz?” Beelzebub sneered.

“I could have. Easily. I’m a Messenger of God.” Gabriel snapped the collar of his coat. He was not in the mood to be needled and teased. 

“Then why didn’t you?” Beelzebub scowled at Gabriel. “You could’ve had them bleeding from their earzz like that,” they snapped their fingers.

“It’s not always about torturing the humans, you know. Their souls may have been mostly corrupt, but there’s  _ always  _ hope.”

Beelzebub shook their head. Hope for some. There might even be hope for Gabriel. But not for them. They had given up all hope nearly a decade ago. After wracking their brain for years, there was only one conclusion. One of them would have to be destroyed before this was all over. Hope was an illusion.

“Have you been spying on me again?” Gabriel asked.

Beelzebub noted the hard glint in Gabriel’s eyes, the stubborn set of his jaw that made his smile look almost dangerous. “I wazz in the area.”

Gabriel scoffed. “Of course you were.”

“Are you… mad at me for zzaving you?”

Gabriel frowned.

“You are. You ungrateful zzhit.”

“I can do my job. Without your help,” Gabriel said in a flat tone, eyes averted to the empty streets. “I don’t want your help. Not if it’s going to involve killing mortals. That’s practically cheating--meddling-- _ interference  _ I think they call it.”

Beelzebub was surprised Gabriel was getting so worked up about this. “You’re in a mood,” Beelzebub muttered.

Gabriel sighed and rubbed at his temples. “I’m sorry. I’m just… frustrated.”

Beelzebub looked blankly at Gabriel, silent permission for him to go on.

“I’ve been doing this--preaching God’s Message--by the book for… for two decades, and it’s… not getting better.”

“The night izz darkest juzzt before the storm.”

“But we’re in it. We’re in the storm, Beelzebub.”

“Twenty yearzz izz a drop in the bucket for holy warzz. You’ve been away from Earth too long.”

“I’ve been  _ here _ for twenty years. I see it clearly--more clearly here than I did in Heaven,” Gabriel argued. “What do you know of it? You’re hardly here.”

Beelzebub’s eyes flashed on Gabriel. “Excuzze me for being too buzzy to fuck around on Earth all the goddamn time.”

“Is that what you think I do?  _ Fuck around  _ on Earth? I’m on the blessed frontlines!”

“With hardly any of your powerzz! Just the Mezzage of God! What good hazz that done you?”

“It’s your fault--” The angry words came spilling out before Gabriel could stop them. Beelzebub snapped to look at him with wide eyes. Blue eyes. Since when had they been blue? They shone brittle as ice in the darkness of the street. The angel choked on the furious words and faltered. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…”

“Fuck you.” Beelzebub looked resolutely at the pavement. “Fuck being zzorry.”

Gabriel let out a frustrated sigh.

“You’re right.”

The angel was taken aback.

“It izz my fault.” Beelzebub’s boot scraped the ground as they turned to keep walking.

Gabriel took a few quick steps to catch up with the demon. “It’s not. Not really. I--”

“Zzhut it,” Beelzebub growled.

Gabriel’s heart squeezed as if in a vice. He didn’t mean to cause Beelzebub pain or guilt. He hadn’t thought the demon was capable of guilt, but there had been glimpses of it. Even recently--that strange confession from his drunk lover, torn up by their unbidden feelings, wracked with anger and guilt that they would be Gabriel’s downfall.

“I didn’t mean to say that,” Gabriel pressed on stubbornly. He slid a hand over Beelzebub’s back and the demon knocked his arm away sharply.

“Angelzz don’t lie,” Beelzebub muttered. “I’ll juzzt fuck off back to Hell and leave you to your  _ work _ . Unimpeded by me.”

“Listen, Bee. It’s not that I’m not glad to see you,” Gabriel insisted. “Will you stop storming off? Where are you even going?”

“Away from you,” Beelzebub growled.

“Beelzebub. If you were going back to Hell, you would’ve done it already.”

Beelzebub had been in the area for their own purposes. They were too irritated now to go back to their business, but going back to Hell now with their task undone would just mean coming back later, which might arouse some suspicion.

The prince suddenly found themself being shoved against the rough brick of a nearby building by a frustrated angel fresh out of patience. “You sure do pick funny times to feel something,” Gabriel growled.

Beelzebub glared up at that stern expression. “I don’t feel anything. Other than annoyed.” The demon’s pale hands gripped Gabriel’s fisted in their shirt.

“Stop bullshitting me. What is going on with you?” Gabriel shoved the Lord of Hell sharply against the wall. “One second you say you miss me, and the next you’re itching to get away. You come to my rescue out of nowhere, undermining what little power I have left…”

“I never zzaid I mizzed you,” Beelzebub snapped.

“You were  _ clinging  _ to me in London!”

“ _ Claiming  _ you,” Beelzebub shot back.

“The most honesty I get out of you is when you’re drunk out of your mind! And you’re worried about the craziest things. I mean--”

“ ** _ZZTOP._ ** ”

The word seared Gabriel like hellfire and sealed the angel’s lips shut. His eyes flew wide furiously. “ ** _Oh, we’re bringing out the Enochian, now_ ** ?” he bit out in a divine voice that lashed Beelzebub. The demon cringed and dug nails into his hand. “Don’t tempt me, Beelzebub. I could  _ make  _ you tell me what’s on your mind.”

A flash of terror gripped Beelzebub. It was true. With the right questions spoken by that divine voice, Gabriel could pull the truth out of them. The angel’s handsome mouth twisted in dark pleasure at the glimmer of fear he saw in those startlingly blue eyes.

“I may not have much power, but I’m bristling with it. You always know how to get me worked up. Frustrated.”

That dangerous smirk was doing it for Beelzebub. Gabriel rarely got so worked up, so genuinely angry with them. Beelzebub knew they were playing with fire if they stoked that anger--but whose fault was it that Gabriel wore wrath so beautifully?

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?” Gabriel sneered. “You’re getting off on this.”

“You usually enjoy feeling powerlezz,” Beelzebub teased.

Despite being shoved roughly against a brick wall, Beelzebub wore an inviting look. Gabriel knew getting anything of substance out of Beelzebub was hopeless. But the demon was willing to let him work out his frustrations, practically goading him into directing this bottled up anger in a productive way.

“Did you come here to undermine me just to get me riled up?”

“No. But I’m enjoying the unintended conzzequencezz.”

“You brat.” Gabriel shoved Beelzebub against the wall with a mean smirk.

“You’re all bark and no bite, Gabriel,” Beelzebub challenged the angel as they dug their nails more sharply into his hand.

“ ** _Silence_ ** ,” Gabriel said in divine Enochian.

Beelzebub felt the pressure of the word in their ears and against their throat, constricting enough to make them choke. The tension sent a shiver through their body, intensified by the powerful look in Gabriel’s eyes.

Gabriel leaned closer to whisper in a low voice, “A bratty demon like you doesn’t deserve a lavish hotel room. I’ll do what I please with you right here.” Beelzebub shivered in anticipation of feeling the rough brick against their skin. “Too bad it’s after curfew. No one will see you at the whims of a pissed off Messenger of God.”

Beelzebub was still under the command of silence. Even breathing was difficult.

“ ** _Release me, fiend._ ** ” Beelzebub’s hands dropped from Gabriel’s and hung uselessly at their sides. Their fingers burned from the holy command, but the demon was tempted to fight the words and feel that punishing burn creep through their muscles.

The angel tore Beelzebub’s sash from their body and dropped it to the filthy pavement. He then grabbed the prince’s shirt roughly and ripped it open. His fingers slid up Beelzebub’s lithe torso and the demon shuddered at the sensation of Gabriel’s fingertips imbued with just enough ethereal energy to make it burn and tingle in the wake.

“You’re shivering. In fear? Or anticipation?” Gabriel wondered aloud. His gaze flicked up to catch Beelzebub grinning at him. He stroked Beelzebub’s hair back from their cheek gently, then grabbed a fistful roughly and kissed them hard. The demon jerked, a whimper torn from their throat--even Gabriel’s lips seared with holy energy.

“That’s a lovely sound. Don’t hear that very often from you,  ** _demon._ ** ” 

Beelzebub growled as the angelic word for ‘demon’ poured down their throat like bile and tangled their insides. It wasn’t like Gabriel to be  _ so  _ aggressive--really must have rankled him this time. Beelzebub bit their singed lip and raked their fingers over the brick behind them.

“ ** _On your knees._ ** ” Gabriel enjoyed seeing Beelzebub powerless to resist crumpling swiftly to their knees in front of him. Their eyes glittered on him, and his cock twitched appreciatively at the glowering look. He undid his trousers and loosed his half-hard cock. Grabbing Beelzebub by the hair, he drew them against it. The demon was uncooperative, sneering against his flesh.

“Don’t deny yourself the privilege of sucking my cock, Beelzebub,” Gabriel taunted. “ ** _Thank me_ ** .”

The words crowded their throat as the constriction from the previous command of silence lifted. “Thank you, Mezzenger,” they spat out against Gabriel’s hardening flesh.

“For?”

“For…” Beelzebub buzzed as their throat burned. “For allowing me to zzuck your cock.”

Gabriel smiled. “So polite.” He rubbed his cock against their lips. “Get to it.” The demon laved their tongue over the head lewdly, eyes never leaving Gabriel’s heady lavender gaze. Gabriel hummed in pleasure as he felt his cock slide into Beelzebub’s mouth, slickened by their viscous spit. The Lord of Hell brought Gabriel to a full erection with only a few passes. As they neared their limit an inch from the base, Gabriel’s hips jerked forward. He savagely held the prince fully hilted on his cock as they choked. Their hands flew up to Gabriel’s thighs, tearing at his trousers until the angel released them and they shot back with a gasp.

“I seem to recall a certain demon telling me they liked being choked.”

It was exhilarating to see Gabriel like this, in full faculty of his senses, yet being such a power-hungry asshole. Beelzebub glared at Gabriel through a devious grin. “Remind me to pizz you off more often.”

Gabriel forced Beelzebub’s mouth back on his cock with a sigh of pleasure. “Shouldn’t be a problem. You know a wealth of ways to irritate me.” He directed the movement of Beelzebub’s head, taking his pleasure from their mouth, fucking them until they gagged and dribbled messily down their chin.

Beelzebub’s eyes watered as Gabriel forced their head on his cock, nails digging into his thighs. They were rock hard in anticipation of the fucking Gabriel was going to give them. The angel pulled them back by the hair, angling their head back to admire the panting, lustful mess of them.

“Get up,” Gabriel said in plain English. Beelzebub hardly needed coercing. They were eager for more. “Give me a  ** _kiss, demon._ ** ” Gabriel’s used the Enochian for the tenderest of kisses, and Beelzebub’s hunger was forced to quell and soften. Their hands cradled Gabriel’s face gently and they scowled at the handsome smirk there. They were boiling over with desire, but their body was shackled by Gabriel’s command. The diminutive demon lifted up on their toes to meet Gabriel’s lips softly. Gabriel melted into the kiss, lips burning in unholy union with Beelzebub’s.

“A good start toward forgiveness for undermining me,” Gabriel praised as he ran his hands up Beelzebub’s sides. The demon hissed as the angel’s touch burned deliciously up their waist. “You’ve forgotten what an angel’s touch feels like.” Gabriel’s hands dragged up over their breasts and Beelzebub’s fingers tightened on his jaw as they shuddered. He captured their nipples between thumbs and forefingers and Beelzebub bit back a growl, their hips giving an involuntary roll toward Gabriel’s.

“Of course a sinful beast like you would  _ enjoy  _ the pain.” Gabriel groped Beelzebub’s small breasts roughly as he pushed the demon back against the wall. “Does it remind you of Falling?”

Beelzebub’s fingers dug into Gabriel’s jaw as a low, warning growl crawled up their throat.

“ ** _Unhand me_ ** ,” Gabriel said simply and Beelzebub’s hands fell sharply to their sides once more. The angel stripped Beelzebub of their coat and shirt before dragging his hand between their legs, cupping their arousal. “Your body is an abomination.” An abomination that Gabriel was very much in love with, but he wanted to push Beelzebub’s limits of submission. “You will  ** _conform _ ** to how I want you now.” He cornered Beelzebub against the wall with one arm as he palmed Beelzebub’s cock roughly.

Beelzebub’s breath caught as they were forced back under that hard stare. Their stern glare broke as they felt Gabriel’s command exert itself on their biology. With a sharp gasp, the demon felt their cock being pressed back into their corporation. It was not painful--in fact, the arousal from their cock sank deep into the pit of their stomach. A moan tore through them as the pleasure was redistributed two-fold into their cunt.

“Gabriel…” Beelzebub opened their mouth to protest and Gabriel silenced them with a finger to their lips.

“Have a taste of being powerless.” Gabriel’s voice dripped with dark satisfaction. With a snap, he removed Beelzebub’s remaining garments, leaving only their fishnet socks and fine boots. His hand met bare flesh and Beelzebub jerked sharply against his stinging, holy fingers.

“It seems the Lord of Hell enjoys being brought low by a measly Messenger,” Gabriel teased as he ran his fingers over their dripping sex. Beelzebub moaned and canted their hips toward Gabriel’s hand. 

It felt bizarre to have only a vulva, as they had always glutted themself on the variety of genitalia on offer for pleasure. They were reeling from the fact that Gabriel had the gall to do such a thing to them, but the unapologetic  _ power  _ to exert such command over them had them more hot and bothered than they could deny. Beelzebub hardly had time to process the forced alteration of their corporation before Gabriel grabbed them roughly by the thighs and scraped them against the bricks, lifting them up level with his own hips.

“You look so blessed _feminine _like this,” Gabriel hissed against Beelzebub’s throat. “**_Arms up._** I want to drink all of you in.”

The demon’s arms pinned themselves above their head against the brick, wrists gathered. Gabriel’s breath singed their throat and Beelzebub wanted to strangle him, cut that searing breath out of his throat. But it was all so deliciously intense, every breath dripping with power. Even the words spoken without divine intent had them ensnared. The demon couldn’t hide their want as Gabriel let his gaze drag slowly over their submissive pose.

“Those blue eyes… I can almost imagine you’re an angel again…” Gabriel mused. Truly, without the trappings of their usual garb, naked and powerless, he could see the beauty that Beelzebub must have possessed as an angel.

“Better not fuck me like you would an angel,” Beelzebub growled.

“You’ll have to beg for my mercy,  ** _demon._ ** ”

Beelzebub’s nails bit into their palms as Gabriel’s Enochian curse dragged through their body and made their cunt throb from the delicious lance of pain that coursed through them.

“Or should I make you beg for the honor?” Gabriel wondered, though his cock was twitching with want.

“I won’t beg. You’ll give it gladly, you luzztful zzinner.”

Gabriel’s eyes flashed and Beelzebub cried out as his hands seared their hips with a concentration of holy power. They writhed against the grit of the bricks and whined as their cunt begged for attention.

The angel’s hands burned over their bare ass. Fingers slid over their arsehole, rubbing the slick they found there. “You’re a mess,” Gabriel teased in an insufferably light tone that made Beelzebub growl as their body arched into the touch. “Since I took your cock away, how would you like it if I used it against you?”

Beelzebub stared wide-eyed at Gabriel, their jaw slack as they panted.

“It’s only fitting that I make an abomination of myself to fuck a demon like you.” Gabriel kissed their loose lips, muffling the groan of desire from the Lord of Hell as they felt a cock rub against not only their cunt, but their arsehole. “ ** _Beg for it._ ** ”

Beelzebub growled in frustration and tried to swallow down the honest pleas that crowded their throat. They so desperately wanted it, but they did not want to give Gabriel the pleasure of hearing them beg for it. As Gabriel teased both of their holes with his cocks, now plural, they writhed against the intangible bonds that kept them stretched so submissively before the angel. The longer they held out, the more their head throbbed like it was going to burst, the more their throat burned with the stifled words.

“Pleazze!” Beelzebub gasped and nearly came from the relief of surrendering to the command. “Pleazze, pleazze.  ** _Gabriel, pleazze. _ ** Fuck me. Fuck me to oblivion,” Beelzebub babbled.

The angel was entranced by seeing Beelzebub so desperate, their normally strong and strict lover turned into a submissive, begging mess. He forgot himself for a moment as he hissed, “God, that’s hot,” and captured Beelzebub’s lips in a searing kiss. His cock slid lewdly against Beelzebub’s slick cunt as he speared their arsehole first, groaning against the demon’s mouth at the tight resistance.

Beelzebub’s arms strained, desperate to claw at the angel’s back as he pierced them. They cursed against his lips and tongue, in mortal and occult speech, until both their mouths were burning. Their cunt greedily accepted Gabriel’s cock as they felt themself stretched and overfilled, the angel’s cocks straining the walls between them.

Gabriel shuddered at the forbidden sensation of sinking deep into all of Beelzebub, taking them completely, their submissive lover a trembling mess of pleasure. He could hardly see straight as he hilted fully inside them, but he was desperate to sear this image in his mind. He steadied his heavy breathing as he drew back and drank in the sight of Beelzebub restrained against the wall, flush and utterly feminine in the moment, small breasts heaving as he sat heavy, fully inside them.

“I can see how you tempted others to Hell…” Gabriel husked. “If only they could see their  ** _Lord of Hell _ ** now… so wanton for a lowly angel…”

Beelzebub writhed, breathless as they were pinned by Gabriel’s twin cocks. The pain of the Enochian heightened the pleasurable fullness, made their body tense around the intrusions. The demon scraped against the wall as Gabriel moaned against their throat. They tried to move their hips, hungry for more.

“Be patient. Wouldn’t want me to command you to do that, would you?” Gabriel whispered the threat breathlessly again his lover’s skin. Beelzebub let out a strangled whimper. Gabriel rocked his hips with a grunt at the intensity of two cocks being greedily devoured by the demon’s body.

“Burn me. Brand me, Archangel,” Beelzebub snarled. They let out a shaky gasp as they felt Gabriel pound in deep, cocks burning with blasphemous holy power. Their chest shook with the effort of their breath, tendrils of delicious pain radiating through their body.

Gabriel focused an intense stare on Beelzebub. The demon actually looked like they were in pain. It was rare to see the Lord of Hell so utterly vulnerable, so broken. “Beelzebub…” Gabriel touched their face and withdrew some of his Light.

“Don’t zztop, you bazztard,” Beelzebub growled weakly.

The angel grinned and let his celestial power flare. Beelzebub cried out as they trembled. Gabriel’s hand moved from their cheek to their throat, reveling in their lover’s vulnerability. His thrusts started slow, drawing out ragged moans laced with pain from the demon. Beelzebub felt fragile, shaking with every motion, but Gabriel knew better than to think Beelzebub wanted him to be gentle in the face of that fragility. 

He channeled his frustration, his thirst for power, into harder and harder thrusts. He felt Beelzebub dissolve into orgasm, whimpering and gasping against Gabriel’s palm pressing on their throat. The angel didn’t let up, fucking Beelzebub against the bricks. Between the scrape of the brick against their raw flesh and the searing holiness pumping into their body, Beelzebub was lost in a sea of tumbling waves of agony and pleasure.

Gabriel had never heard such noises from their lover. They whimpered and sobbed and begged, and Gabriel was an addict for each new hit of agonized pleasure ripping through the demon. Another orgasm wracked through the demon and Gabriel shuddered as it threatened to bring him along with it.

“ ** _Hold me_ ** ,” Gabriel commanded, not because he needed to exert his control, but because he didn’t think Beelzebub was in a state of mind to make any sense of the words without the Enochian command behind them. 

Beelzebub gasped as their arms were freed from their position above their head and clawed at Gabriel’s back. The demon held on for dear life as Gabriel kept fucking them. The world ceased to exist. Even consciousness was slipping. Just burning from the inside out, being fucked raw by the powerful angel, strong hands holding them where Gabriel wanted, needed, for them to be, cocks claiming every inch of them, demanding pleasure and doling out pain.

A ragged cry tore through the night as Beelzebub felt another spike in the pleasure, another orgasm from their abused body. Gabriel’s moans didn’t even register over the buzzing in their ears, but they felt him pumping them full of come. It wasn’t until Gabriel slowed to a stop that Beelzebub realized that whimpering was coming from them. The angel’s breath was strong and reassuring against their ear.

The sting of their scraped-raw skin registered vaguely in the storm of pleasure. Gabriel’s touch still held a memory-ghost of holy fire, but the angel was no longer wielding his celestial power. The angel pressed too-soft kisses against their sore neck, up their tear-streaked cheeks. The touch overwhelmed them and they took a shaky breath. “Zz-ztop,” they whispered hoarsely.

The light changed and the press of brick disappeared--Gabriel had miracled them to a different location. It couldn’t be far, given Gabriel’s limited powers. The angel cradled them against his chest as he sat down. Beelzebub felt the kiss of cool linen against their shins and realized Gabriel had brought them back to his hotel room.

“Bee?” Gabriel voice was small and raw.

Beelzebub slowly lifted their head and saw worry written over Gabriel’s face.

“I went too far.”

Beelzebub groaned and wrapped their jellied arms around the angel. They hugged Gabriel tightly and the angel gripped them back in relief. “No…” Beelzebub breathed and nuzzled into Gabriel’s neck. “You were gloriouzz.” They smiled, tired.

Gabriel let out a sigh. “I really hurt you,” he said gingerly as he looked at the scratched ruin of Beelzebub’s back.

“Did you enjoy it?” Beelzebub ran their fingers into Gabriel’s hair. Fulfilling their desires from the dominant role had this effect on Gabriel--he would worry, fret over the conflicting pain and pleasure of the act. He needed tender reassurance after the fact. Beelzebub was only too happy to comply after they got to see Gabriel really get lost in ferocity. They had even come to enjoy this part--the denouement of the scene.

“In the moment, yes, but--”

Beelzebub drew back slowly, movements lazy in the satisfied bliss after such an intense scene. They kissed Gabriel softly and stroked his hair. “You did good.”

Some of the tension drained out of the angel. He felt exhausted and drained, but Beelzebub’s praise poured life back into him.

“I needed that,” Beelzebub admitted with an uncharacteristically soft smile.

“And here I thought you were doing a favor for me…” Even as he joked, Gabriel still had that uncertain look in his eyes.

“You are zztill powerful…” Beelzebub praised as they traced Gabriel’s hairline with sore fingers. “Powerful enough to command even me. Powerful enough to alter my corporation, burn me from the inzzide out…”

Gabriel shivered at Beelzebub’s hoarse tone laced with satisfaction. “I went too far--”

“No, it was inzzpired,” Beelzebub insisted. “‘Have a tazzte of being powerlezz,’” they quoted with a complimentary raise of their eyebrows, “It’zz a good line.”

“I love you,” Gabriel said thickly, hands cupping Beelzebub’s face.

“You’re worthy,” Beelzebub said readily and kissed the angel. Gabriel pressed into the kiss with need, need to express his utter devotion and affection, need to be forgiven for taking out his aggression on his lover, regardless of whether he had been invited willingly to do so.

The demon touched Gabriel’s hand as they drew back from the kiss. “Will you be alright while I get cleaned up?” It was easy to be caring when they felt so deliciously beat up.

“Do you want me to help you?” Gabriel offered.

“No. I need a minute.”

A flicker of worry revisited Gabriel. “Will you stay the night?”

“We’ll zee. I have some biznezz to attend to tomorrow.” The demon saw the disappointment written plainly on Gabriel’s face and knew they would give in and stay with him. “Get undrezzed,” Beelzebub told him. “I will return.” They kissed the corner of his mouth before they began to navigate moving their still-trembling legs. With some difficulty, they got to their feet and crept toward the bathroom.

Beelzebub was faced with a mirror as they shut themself in the bathroom. Their arms were littered with scratches, their back a red smear of rough scrapes, and the tender flesh of their breasts, sides, and inner thighs were marred by the strange welts of holy burns. None of this disturbed them--not as much as what stared back at them. Blue eyes.

They leaned over the sink toward the mirror to ensure it wasn’t some trick of the light. Blue eyes. They hadn’t had blue eyes since… Not since they had gazed upon the glory of Heaven, on solid, ethereal ground Above.

The sight made them shiver and frown. What did it mean? Gabriel’s manipulation of their biology was less invasive than this sudden change outside of their control. Beelzebub looked away from the mirror and felt cold dread prickling their insides. There had to be a reason, but Beelzebub did not want to face that now.

The demon took a shower--a thing they rarely did alone, but it gave them time to purge some of the damage from their flesh and wash away the mess. They left a few reminders of Gabriel’s frustration on their flesh, but recorporated their preferred arrangement of effort between their legs.

When they returned to the bedroom, Gabriel was under the covers, waiting for them like a puppy. Beelzebub joined him, and the angel immediately moved to take them by the waist and lay his head in their lap. The demon snorted, but didn’t deny the angel what he wanted.

“Are you alright?” Gabriel asked as he smoothed the sheets over Beelzebub’s thighs.

Beelzebub let out an annoyed sigh. “ _ Yezz,  _ already. You’re ruining my mood.”

“I don’t mean about… tonight. I mean in general.”

The demon’s face twisted in a frown.

“You have been acting strangely. And you said you needed that.”

For being such an idiot, Gabriel was annoyingly perceptive about their mood.

“Why do you feel like you need to be punished?” Gabriel rolled onto his back to look up at the prince. He knew it was ill-advised to look at Beelzebub while asking pointed questions about their least favorite topic-- _ feelings _ \--but being evasive and willfully ignorant hadn’t worked so far. The reasons for concern were piling up.

Beelzebub glared down at Gabriel. The angel looked up at them steadily, his eyes dark with intent. “You’re reading too much into it,” Beelzebub muttered. They broke their gaze. They couldn’t bear to stare directly into the eyes of the one they were betraying with every breath.

“I know you don’t like to talk about this stuff, but…” Gabriel reached up and curled his hand around the nape of the demon’s neck, running fingers into their hair. “It’s been twenty years, Bee. You can’t keep me out forever. I… I know you. I know how to read you. And I know when something’s wrong.” His fingers worried against the tender skin of the back of their neck. “Please, just tell me.”

Gabriel’s words burned in their ears as if he were still speaking them in Enochian. They cursed themself for letting down too many walls--over the years and now. They had gotten sloppy, and worse yet,  _ emotional. _ What the hell had happened to them? Gabriel made them  _ feel  _ things. Somehow he had reached into that pitch pit where a rotten heart resided and resuscitated it. Over the years, he had nurtured it, fostered a place for it to thrive and grow. Now Beelzebub was strapped with a functioning heart built to break.

“Whatever it is, we can face it together,” Gabriel said quietly. “I know our… arrangement will always be fraught, but…” The angel slowly rose and sat beside Beelzebub. “You don’t have to suffer alone. I can take it. You know I’d--”

Beelzebub bristled and stiffened. “If you keep thizz up, I’m leaving.”

Gabriel sighed heavily and slumped forward to press his brow against Beelzebub’s shoulder. “Don’t threaten me,” he said wearily. “I’m just trying to help.”

“Do you truzzt me?” Beelzebub asked.

His lover’s tone of voice made Gabriel lift his head. There were so many unspoken words between the spoken ones--fear and fragility and vulnerability inexorably sewn in under that flat tone. Beelzebub stared ahead at unseen dread.

“Yes.” Gabriel kissed Beelzebub’s shoulder. “Of course I trust you.”

Beelzebub turned to look at Gabriel. “Truzzt me to know when the time is right.”

Gabriel touched Beelzebub’s vacant expression, searching those strangely blue eyes. Their new color made Beelzebub look sad, Gabriel thought. They looked like they could shatter.


	11. Consecrated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beelzebub takes care of their errand, which requires braving consecrated ground. Gabriel nearly catches them on this secret errand, and is left ever more bewildered by Beelzebub's mercurial moods.

Perhaps goading Gabriel into wielding his divinity had not been the wisest choice given Beelzebub’s business the following day. Or, perhaps it would prove to have been a good warm up. Beelzebub had never been burned with Enochian words of power and celestial touch on the eve before one of these errands. Only time would tell.

The Lord of Hell stood in a shaded alley outside one of the oldest remaining churches in Florence. The Chiesa de Santi Apostoli was not like some of the old churches that had been replaced brick by brick until it was merely the facade of its age. In fact, despite its original foundation during the Golden Age of Florentine art, and renovations some four hundred years after, the facade was still unfinished. It wasn’t like the empty-foundationed churches where a demon could masquerade as a parishioner or even a nun. No, this was one of the genuine articles with a founding stone blessed by a truly pure soul in the name of Charlemange and his loyal paladin, Roland. Just standing in front of it made Beelzebub’s skin crawl.

Beelzebub took a deep breath and steeled themself as they walked to the modest entrance. It required all of their concentration not to release the full-body shudder that wracked their insides, passing the threshold. Every step burned hotter than the last as they walked with conviction down the nave. Their calves were twitching and trembling with the effort it took to walk normally toward the apse.

The beauty of the church was lost on Beelzebub. They did not admire the painted criss-crossed beams of the vaulted ceiling, nor even glance at the carved pillars on either side of the aisle. The demon tasted bile in their mouth as they went through the motions of crossing themself before the altar. They filed into one of the pews and bit the inside of their cheek as they singed their knees in the position of praying. Their brow shadowed a baleful stare at the depictions of Archangel Raphael illuminating one chapel, Michael “ _ defeating”  _ Lucifer in another.

Walking through a church was one thing, but sitting still in the pose of prayer was a testament to their willpower. Beelzebub focused all of their thoughts on cursing the stupid demands of human sensibilities. Better to focus on the pain in the ass routine they had to endure than to think about the purpose of said routine. 

They had learned early on that even priests in a town formerly flocked with tourists like Florence got a little suspicious if a stranger walked in off the street and asked directly for holy water. One had to pretend to be a parishioner, or at the very least go through the niceties of visiting the church as a believer. Sitting through a sermon in the kinds of churches Beelzebub required for their needs was out of the question. But they could kneel and pretend to pray for their cause to keep up appearances.

The faint welts from the previous night were far from forgotten. The longer Beelzebub stayed in that holy place, the more the ache of Gabriel’s holy touch made itself known. This had been a stupid idea. Beelzebub’s knuckles blazed white in the grip it took not to let them shake. They were already this far. They weren’t going to endure this pain for nothing.

Beelzebub felt the holy presence of the priest moving in front of the altar like an afterimage burned behind their eyelids. Once they were sure they had been seen doing their due diligence, Beelzebub bit their lip and rose to their feet stiffly.

“Excuse me, Father?” Beelzebub approached the robed man with practiced gentleness. They found they could lean into the pain of every moment spent on hallowed ground to affect a timid softness to their voice.

The priest turned to look at the young man who begged his attention. He didn’t recognize the petite figure in a dark sweater, but his heart immediately went out to the pained look in those blue eyes. “Yes, my son?”

“I apologize. I’m only here visiting, but I was hoping you might be able to help me.” One couldn’t rush the script.

“I’ll do what I can. What is it that you need help with?”

“My brother and his wife have just moved into a new house, and I was hoping to purify it. I wasn’t able to bring any holy water with me, so I came in hopes that you might be able to bless some for me to take to the christening.”

The priest smiled warmly. “Of course, my son. Easily done.”

“Thank you.” Beelzebub had the process down to a science by now. Even so, it required every ounce of energy to remain in character and ignore the searing of the soles of their feet, the creep of burning pain clawing up their legs.

The priest walked into the cloister by the altar. Beelzebub denied themself the instinct to pray for the priest’s swift return--no one could know their intentions, even if their movements could be tracked. They had taken care to hide their movements in the realm of these clandestine visits to blessed churches hundreds of times over the past decade.

The priest did not make them wait long. He emerged with a plastic bottle about the size of a flask--the same vessel most holy water came in, these days. It was stupid how commercialized even religion had become, but it wasn’t the vessel or the letters etched in gold that read ‘HOLY WATER’ that gave the water any special properties. It was the blessing from the priest, and the sanctity of the place in which the blessing was performed, that made the water holy.

As soon as Beelzebub touched the flimsy plastic bottle, they knew it was the real deal. The opaque plastic threatened Beelzebub’s fingers, a paltry barrier between the Lord of Hell and obliviation.

“I cannot thank you enough,” Beelzebub said and did their best dopey Gabriel impression. It was pretty good.

“Of course.” The priest gave Beelzebub a blessing, crossing the air between them.

The prince’s hand flew up to their mouth to hide the retch that ripped from their throat.

“God be with you…” the priest said, bemused.

“Mmhmm,” Beelzebub managed out with a nod, then turned on their heel. Their gait was much less steady as they left the church, trying to act natural.

As soon as the demon was outside of the church, they ran to the across the alley and into a dark side street and vomited. “Ugh…” Beelzebub braced themself against a rough stone wall with an arm and hung their head. The holy water hung limply in their other arm. They looked balefully at it and took a ragged breath.

A buzz in their pocket drew their attention. Beelzebub slumped into the wall against their shoulder and pulled the hellphone from their pocket. Gabriel’s familiar ring-tone--ear-splitting claxons--blared. Beelzebub ignored the call with a sigh.

Their feet were scorched to heaven, the lingering welts from Gabriel burned, their throat felt dry, and just the existence of the holy water in their hand made them feel nauseated. All in all, they felt like a wreck. They could hardly talk, much less be dragged into an inevitable continuation of Gabriel’s worry over them.

“Bee?”

Beelzebub gave such a start, they almost threw the holy water. Gabriel’s head popped into the alley and Beelzebub hurried to stuff the holy water in their back pocket.

“I thought I heard my ringtone. What’re the chances?”

“What’re you doing here?” Beelzebub asked in a ragged voice.

“What are  _ you  _ doing here? I thought you left Florence already.”

“None of your biznezzz,” Beelzebub growled.

Gabriel took in the demon’s appearance with a bemused smile. “Having some clandestine meeting with your other boyfriend?” he asked with a smug look as he advanced on the demon. “You never wear anything this cute for me,” he complained as he plucked at the shoulder of the sweet black sweater Beelzebub was wearing over jeans.

Beelzebub couldn’t even muster up a smart remark, knocked so off-kilter by Gabriel showing up out of nowhere when they were in no state to be seen.

It only took a moment for Gabriel to notice Beelzebub’s pallor, sickly pale even for them. They had a hunted look, different than their usual cagey manner. His expression soured, but he knew better than to ask if they were alright.

“I forgot to ask you last night when you’d be in London next,” Gabriel settled into a safe avenue of conversation.

“I-I-I don’t know,” Beelzebub snapped.

Gabriel couldn’t hide the worry in his brow and too-soft lavender eyes. Beelzebub wanted to run, to be swallowed up by the ground and return to Hell. But they couldn’t go back to Hell with holy water in their back pocket, nor could they outrun Gabriel’s growing concern.

“Well…” Gabriel wanted to beg Beelzebub to tell him what was going on, but it wouldn’t get him anywhere. If anything, it would made Beelzebub push him even further away. “Give me a call when you figure it out.” About London, or about what was eating away at them so badly.

Gabriel leaned down and lifted a hand to cup Beelzebub’s cheek. The demon recoiled. Beelzebub hadn’t responded so violently to his touch in years. It wasn’t the hand-swatting flinch rejecting his affection, but real revulsion. The angel was taken aback, and the hurt showed in his expression.

Beelzebub cringed, hands balled up into fists.

Gabriel cleared his throat. “I’ve… got to be going. Was just calling on my way to…”

The demon staggered forward a step and very nearly fell into Gabriel’s arms. The angel caught them, bewildered. Beelzebub pulled him down by his tie and kissed him soundly. In their current state, they could have wept it felt so good. This was for Gabriel. This kiss. All this pain. What they had to do.

Beelzebub’s kiss was desperate. Gabriel was left even more confused, but at least a little relieved that Beelzebub had recovered from whatever flicker of disgust had made them recoil.

“Zzee you in London,” was all Beelzebub had to say, their voice rough. “I’ll call.”

Gabriel didn’t want to leave Beelzebub’s side, not when they were clinging to him like that. “Okay,” he said weakly. “Call me soon.” Gabriel squeezed Beelzebub close. “Please,” he whispered like a prayer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Church of Saint Apostoli is [really beautiful.](http://en.firenze-online.com/visit/ss-apostoli-141)


	12. Reservation for four, name is under "Idiots"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beelzebub joins Gabriel, Aziraphale, and Crowley for dinner. The Lord of Hell has something to ask Crowley about what exactly happened at his trial all those years ago.

Time was running out. Beelzebub could feel it in the air, see it written like a curse on Gabriel’s face. The angel couldn’t see it, but Beelzebub could feel the corruption heavy on his holy presence, around him like invisible chains, weighing him down.

Beelzebub was trapped between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, the hour of reckoning was nearly at hand, and they desperately wanted to make every last second count before it was all over. On the other, the more often they saw Gabriel, the closer he came to Falling. The end of it all loomed over them. Soon now, so very soon.

The elevator dinged as Beelzebub arrived at the mid-level restaurant in Gabriel’s high-rise apartment building. They walked out, hands stuffed into their pockets, shoulders tight in their sharp suit jacket. They dismissed the maitre’d at the glittering entrance of the restaurant, spotting where their party awaited them.

Gabriel stood as he saw Beelzebub approaching and greeted them with a smile. An empty seat waited beside him, but he was not alone. The other unlikely angel-demon pair that resided on Earth were their dining companions.

“Fashionably late as always, Lord Beelzebub,” Crowley greeted with a casual salute.

“Better late than never,” Gabriel said warmly and bent to kiss Beelzebub’s cheek as they approached. The Lord of Hell shut their eyes with an irritated cringe, but Gabriel felt the subtle way in which Beelzebub accepted, even welcomed, the small show of affection.

“I thought you and Aziraphale should sit together,” Gabriel explained as he gestured to the open seat. The seating arrangement was also dictated by the fact that Gabriel knew to sit as far from Crowley as possible.

“As we are the ones most familiar with the offerings here,” Aziraphale chimed in warmly.

Beelzebub allowed Gabriel to pull out the chair and seat them. It was not the first time the four of them had dined together, but it wasn’t exactly a common occurrence. The demon suspected Gabriel’s concern had something to do with it. 

The animosity between the two demons had been dulled by time. With Crowley retired from active duty as an agent of Hell, he was actually less of a pain in the ass. As one who had been a demon since the original Schism, and the only other demon openly in a relationship with an angel, Beelzebub begrudgingly had to admit they had a few things in common. They wouldn’t call Crowley’s company  _ amiable,  _ but at the very least it was familiar.

Beelzebub had been surprisingly compliant to the dinner invitation, for which Gabriel was glad. The angel thought perhaps Beelzebub truly did need a friend--for as much as they were loathe to admit Crowley was anything of the sort.

“How have you been, Lord Beelzebub?” Aziraphale asked.

Beelzebub didn’t know well how to navigate the niceties of dinner conversation, unlike Gabriel and Aziraphale, but they could manage to be diplomatic, if nothing else. “Buzzy. You know there’zz a war on.”

“Don’t sell yourself short, Beelz,” Crowley said. “Several wars, it looks like.” There was a derisive streak to his tone and the smirk slashed across his mouth.

“Keeping me on my toes,” Gabriel joked.

“Oh, is that where they’re keeping you?” Crowley jeered.

“Crowley,” Aziraphale chided, but his smile was cautiously indulgent. Beelzebub’s moods were impossible to predict. Luckily, Aziraphale had the forethought to have already ordered the wine and, right on cue, it arrived.

“Lord Beelzebub, why don’t you do the honors,” Aziraphale offered when the server poured a glass to taste.

The demon took the offered glass and shot it back. Aziraphale did have good taste in vintages. “Fine,” they muttered.

“You know, I’ve been hunting down every bottle of malbec I can find,” Aziraphale supplied. “Dreadful that there aren’t any vineyards left in Argentina…”

“Scarcity improvezz the enjoyment, no?” Beelzebub mused.

Aziraphale’s lips pursed. “I suppose that’s one way to look at it.”

“I wonder what a tainted malbec would taste like. Shame they dumped all the tainted crop,” Crowley groused as he scratched under his chin.

Gabriel beamed. “Guilty as charged.”

Crowley shot him a mocking look. “King Buzzkill over here.”

“I think it would have made humans quite ill, my dear,” Aziraphale said, gently defending Gabriel’s just actions.

“Serves ‘em right for mucking the environment up,” Crowley muttered as he sank deeper in his slouch.

“I think there was some influence in their disastrous actions,” Gabriel said with a look at Beelzebub.

The Lord of Hell raised their glass, accepting the credit for that. “Balance. That’zz what it’zz all about.” The odd party raised their glasses with mixed enthusiasm and clinked in an awkward cheers to the slow demise of civilization.

Aziraphale turned to the menu, changing the subject to something he and Beelzebub could both enjoy with equal pleasure. They chatted through every dish on offer, discourse wandering around some of their favorite delicacies of the past. Both Gabriel and Crowley looked on with a mixture of amusement and befuddlement. An unlikely friendship had sprouted between the cruelest Lord of Hell and the gentlest former Principality--at least when it came to food.

“So, what  _ is  _ the endgame, Beelzebub?” Crowley asked after Beelzebub and Aziraphale had ordered damn near everything on the menu, swiftly barrelling into his second glass of wine.

“That’zz not for  _ you  _ to know, Crowley. Ex-communicated from Hell and all,” Beelzebub said primly. ‘Traitor’ had become a passe insult after so many years.

“Yeah, but…” Crowley cracked a grin and shot Aziraphale a knowing look. He leaned forward on the edge of the table. “You two,” he flicked his gaze over at Gabriel, “you’re just… cancelling each other out, right?”

Aziraphale chuckled. “Crowley, dear,” he said softly and touched the demon’s hand at the nod to their own Arrangement of the past.

Beelzebub considered Gabriel over their wine glass. Gabriel was looking at them fondly, cheek resting on his fist. “I zzuppose…”

“Both sides are getting quite the workout, that’s for sure,” Gabriel offered.

“Skirmishezz before the Great War.”

Aziraphale frowned. “Does there really need to be a war?”

“It izz written. We were poorly prepared for the Apocalypse, the lazzt time. You traitorzz made that very clear.”

Crowley looked pleased with himself.

“I’ll never understand all this war business. It just seems so unnecessary. You said yourself, Beelzebub, it’s about balance.”

“Eventually a winner will be decided,” Beelzebub said flatly.

“I think the humans are gonna win this one, angel,” Crowley reassured Aziraphale.

The blond angel smiled at Crowley and squeezed his hand gratefully.

Beelzebub snorted. Gabriel looked amused by the ridiculous notion. Both entities of high standing were blind to the fact that the next Great War would put strain on their relationship, to say the least. They were both wired to soldier onward toward the inevitable, the ineffable, plan. They lacked the imagination to think through the consequences of achieving what both their sides had been fighting for all this time.

Despite his own well-oiled imagination, even Crowley wasn’t cruel or dark enough to bring this up. Not over a nice dinner, in any case.

“Perhapzz they will.” Beelzebub surprised everyone in attendance with their flat remark punctuated by a casual sip of wine.

Crowley leaned forward, eyes narrowed with interest behind his glasses. “Do you have something planned, Lord Beelzebub?”

Beelzebub snorted. “I’ve seen where your commendationzz came from, Crowley. The humanzz did your dirty work.”

Crowley laughed. “Right you are!”

“Without you and your Principality meddling down here, the scalezz will tip in our favor,” Beelzebub said with confidence.

“ _ But, _ ” Gabriel cut in. “ _ I’m  _ on the frontlines this time.” He grinned a challenge at Beelzebub. The Lord of Hell did not look impressed.

Aziraphale was terribly confused by this lovers’ game or quarrel or whatever it was, and fought to clear the air more generally. “But… there’s no Antichrist. Surely you can’t have the, erm, Great War without an Antichrist?”

“No. No  _ defective  _ Antichrist this time,” Beelzebub sneered.

“It’s  _ a  _ Great War, Aziraphale, not  _ the  _ Great War,” Gabriel supplied.

“Of course,” Aziraphale said with a pained smile.

“I don’t think She has any plans on letting the Earth get destroyed, angel,” Crowley reassured Aziraphale. “She just has an air for the…  _ dramatic. _ Likes to shake things up, like some kind of bloody… snowglobe. She’s probably got something up Her sleeve for this one, too.”

Aziraphale visibly relaxed. Crowley was always the one to reassure him that God had allowed the End of Times to be averted once. Aziraphale would smile in a way that said,  _ You have more faith in Her than all of us combined,  _ but he knew better than to voice those words aloud.

“Point is--humans.” Crowley gestured with his wine glass.

“I  _ do  _ have faith in humans,” Aziraphale agreed.

“And those two idiots?” Crowley gestured at Gabriel and Beelzebub. The former blinked, slow on the uptake of being on the receiving end of being called an idiot by Crowley; the latter gave Crowley a nasty look. “They’re not actually  _ doing  _ anything.”

The former archangel and the Lord of Hell bristled to argue, but Crowley waved a hand.

“Whole lotta excitement, a Big Bang, if you will, and a clean slate, that’s what I say.” Aziraphale gave a worried little wiggle as he opened his mouth to find the words to voice his concern. “Not an  _ actual  _ Big Bang, angel, just--”

“Yezz,” Beelzebub agreed. “Thingzz will be different.”

Crowley was taken aback that Beelzebub actually agreed with him, knocked briefly off the track of his train of thought. “... Right.”

Gabriel was pleased that Beelzebub seemed to be in a rather agreeable mood. “I have to admit, I have come around to seeing some of what you like so much about Earth. It’s… quaint.”

“Simple pleasures,” Aziraphale said warmly.

“It’ll come to a head soon,” Gabriel said. “And then--who knows? A renewed Kingdom on Earth. Peace and harmony,” he offered like a sales pitch.

“Yezz.” The gathered party turned a shocked look at the Lord of Hell. Beelzebub fizzled under so much focused individual attention, a knot twisting their brow. “It will come to a head zzoon.”

Aziraphale shivered with a nervous smile. “Well, good luck, Gabriel,” he said weakly.

“Give ‘em Hell, Beelz,” Crowley said with a sardonic grin. “I, for one, do not vote for Heaven on Earth.” Aziraphale shot him a worried pout. “Nor Hell on Earth, angel,” he said defensively. “Let him have their petty squabble and we’ll reap the spoils of humans outwitting them once again.”

The first courses arrived and allowed the banter to deescalate from the fate of the world and onto simpler things. Beelzebub and Aziraphale discussed the merits of kobe beef versus wagyu, and the quality of wild-caught tuna against farm-raised. London afforded them a semblance of normalcy uncommon in the chaos of the day. Hints of the changing times came up as they reminisced about how cuisine  _ used  _ to be, but such was the nature of being immortal entities, regardless of the political and military climate of the era.

The light in the restaurant turned thick and golden as they whiled the hours away with wine and fine food.

“Aziraphale, have you seen the view from here?” Gabriel asked, wine-softened and genial.

“Oh, I imagine it’s lovely. You’ve got quite the spot here, Gabriel. We’re hardly ever in the city anymore,” Aziraphale chattered amiably.

Gabriel glanced at Beelzebub. The Lord of Hell met his gaze and gave a subtle disinterested flicker of their eyes, more intent on the remaining desserts to be picked at on the table.

Gabriel rose from his chair and gestured toward the glittering floor-to-ceiling windows along the far wall of the restaurant that looked out over the city. Aziraphale smiled as he rose to join him, taking only a moment to kiss Crowley’s temple before he walked away with Gabriel.

“Bit on the nose,” Crowley muttered.

Beelzebub looked up from their dessert.

Crowley poured himself into Aziraphale’s vacated seat and lifted a bottle of wine. He gave it a slosh, then poured the remainder into Beelzebub’s glass. “Dunno if that means  _ they  _ have something to discuss in private, or if  _ we’re  _ meant to have a heart to heart, but…” He glanced dispassionately over at Gabriel’s heather-gray suited back with a sneer. “Your boyfriend better not be trying to enlist Aziraphale to the Ethereal Army.”

Beelzebub scowled at Crowley. “He’zz not my  _ boyfriend, _ ” they hissed.

“Oh, what is he, then, hm? Your  _ lover _ ?  _ Companion _ ?  _ Concubine _ ?” Crowley drawled each title out with more depth, slurring emphatically.

“The latter, perhapzz.” Beelzebub’s lips twitched into a smirk.

“He’s really done a number on you, Lord Beelzebub,” Crowley chirped pleasantly.

Beelzebub’s spoon scraped on the porcelain plateware like nails on a chalkboard.

Crowley grit his teeth. “I’m just saying. You’re almost a pleasant dinner companion.”

Beelzebub gave Crowley a withering look, but it lacked some of the venom it might have carried twenty years ago.

“You’re really going to go through with it?” Crowley asked honestly, his sharp tongue relaxed with wine. “Even with,” he jerked a head in Gabriel’s direction, “what you’ve got going on?”

“Not really a choice.”

“He might be destroyed. Not an archangel anymore.” Crowley could be frank with Beelzebub alone in ways that he wanted to shield Aziraphale from.

Beelzebub was silent, their blue eyes distant on the tablecloth.

“Do you  _ want  _ him to be destroyed?” Crowley asked in surprise.

“No,” Beelzebub said quietly.

“... He could Fall. Join forces with you. I’ve noticed--”

“ _ No, _ ” Beelzebub ground out harshly.

Crowley’s brows raised above his glasses. “But he’s…”

“Zzhut it.” Beelzebub glowered at Crowley.

Crowley saw something… fragile in Beelzebub’s gaze. Those blue eyes were more emotive than Crowley had ever seen them, albeit just as guarded as a prison gate. He gave up with a little shrug--more because he didn’t know what to do with such a vulnerable glimmer in the Lord of Hell’s eyes than for lack of curiosity.

“There’zz zzomething I’ve been curiouzz about.”

Crowley was doubly surprised, and he retrieved his glass of wine with interest. “If it’s about courting an angel, I think you’ve got that covered. He’s crazy about you.” Crowley snorted into his wineglass.

“At your trial…” Beelzebub ran a fingernail up the stem of their wineglass. “How did you zzurvive?” Their brow narrowed. “I know it wazz zzome trick.”

“Hm?” Crowley looked over his glass at Beelzebub. In all these years, the Lord of Hell had never asked. It was a point of contention, to be sure; an embarrassment stacked on top of bungling the execution of Armageddon. He was quiet for a long moment and took a deep draught of his wine as he contemplated how to answer.

Finally, “Oh, bless it. You’re not going to drag me back to Hell, right?” He grinned, but there was a touch of hesitation there. He waited for Beelzebub to answer--there was no telling with the Lord of Hell.

Beelzebub remained quietly distracted with scraping their nail against the glass. When Crowley didn’t go on, they shot him an impatient look. “No,” they snapped.

Crowley studied Beelzebub a moment longer. “It was Aziraphale’s idea, brilliant bastard that he is…” Crowley wheedled. Beelzebub was not looking at him with judgement, only listening quietly with eyes once more averted. “We, uh… swapped. Bodies.”

Beelzebub raised an eyebrow, tapping a finger against the tines of their fork. They frowned. “How did you know what the punishment would be?”

“We didn’t,” Crowley laughed humorlessly. “Not really. Bit of luck, that.”

“Holy water would zztill dezztroy you.” It could have been a question, but in Beelzebub’s tone is sounded as final as a guillotine.

“Woah, woah--hey, we’re--we’re cool, right?” Crowley scrambled to sit up straight in his chair. “After all these years,” he laughed as affably as he could, but it sounded terrified.

“I’ve had dozenzz of chancezz to dezztroy you, if I wanted to,” Beelzebub growled. “Bezzides Heaven isn’t exactly in a giving mood. Where would I get that much holy water?”

_ It doesn’t take that much holy water to obliviate a demon,  _ Crowley thought nervously. “R-right… Y-yeah,” he said shakily. “But we’re cool, right?”

Beelzebub gave Crowley a stale glare. “You’re well beneath my purview, Crowley.”

Crowley exhaled a huge sigh. “Don’t freak me out like that.” He expected Beelzebub to be angry, irritated that they had been fooled by something so simple. But instead, the Lord of Hell was draped in a veil of melancholy.

“You guys, uh… retired the ol’ holy water bath after that?” Crowley asked carefully.

“No. It’zz worked juzzt fine.”

Crowley was confused by the whole situation. Why was Beelzebub asking about the trial after all this time? What did it matter if he had survived if the holy water bath had done the trick for other demons? They had all assumed that he and Aziraphale had gone too native, tainted by each other and by their time on Earth. Why question that  _ now _ ? And why did Beelzebub look so blessed  _ sad _ ?

“Beelzebub… are you alright?”

The Lord of Hell slammed their fist on the table so loud that everything jumped and rattled. The empty wine bottle fell on its side and everyone in the restaurant turned to look at the disturbance. “Azzzzk me again, and I will dizzzzcorporate you and enzzzzure you zzztand in line for  _ centuriezzzzz  _ before being reizzzzued a body.” Beelzebub’s tone made the glassware tremble. Crowley could feel the floor grow hotter under his feet, and a distinct rotten egg smell permeated the air.

“Check, please.” Crowley cleared his throat awkwardly and avoided those piercing blue eyes digging into his skull.


	13. A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beelzebub surrenders to the dread looming over them, and prompts Gabriel with a scene that, unbeknownst to him, is more rehearsal than roleplay.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CW: there be some monsterfucking in this one, folkx. BDSM with negotiation and established safeword. (There will be aftercare in the following chapter.)
> 
> yeah, this one broke my heart to write. also: title is from ["A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains"](https://youtu.be/SMd35tfCiXQ) by MeWithoutYou. Recommended listening.

“I still had a lovely time,” Gabriel insisted in the elevator on the way up to his penthouse.

Beelzebub stared silently at the corner of the elevator.

“Crowley really is a bastard sometimes,” Gabriel sighed. “Even after all this time, even though Aziraphale has put the past behind us, he just…”

“You did ride Aziraphale hard for six thouzzand yearzz,” Beelzebub muttered.

“Not you, too,” Gabriel complained good-naturedly. Despite his playful smile, he failed to get a rise out of Beelzebub. His smile faded as they walked together to his apartment.

“I’ve been so spoiled,” he said warmly as he shrugged off his coat and lay it over the back of a chair. “I’ve gotten to see you so often lately.” He came up behind Beelzebub and bent down to kiss their neck.

Beelzebub allowed Gabriel to draw them close in his arms.

“Sorry I subjected you to dinner,” he said as he kissed their impassive cheek. “I thought maybe…” he sighed with a self-deprecating smile. “I thought it might be nice for you and Crowley to chat.” He hugged Beelzebub closer, relieved when the demon’s hands found his arms and squeezed. “I guess sometimes I still miss the mark when it comes to what you want…”

“I did have zzomething I needed to azzk him.”

“Oh?” Gabriel asked curiously.

Beelzebub sighed with a shake of their head. “I didn’t like the anzzwer.”

“Ah. I see.” Gabriel gave Beelzebub a squeeze. “Well… I’m at your service, Ba’al,” he whispered huskily against the demon’s ear. “Perhaps I can improve your mood.”

Beelzebub didn’t think anything could improve their mood at this point. Might as well embrace the horror that lay ahead of them. They pulled at Gabriel’s arms to loosen them from against their chest and turned to face Gabriel.

“I have a little scenario for you, Archangel,” Beelzebub said in a low voice. 

Gabriel smiled in anticipation. “What do you have on your twisted little mind?” he purred.

“You’ve Fallen.” The words stung like poison on their lips. Scenario. A little role-play. It was just a scenario. “And I’m going to have my way with you one last time before I toss you into the pits to be torn apart and stripped of every scrap of celestial goodness.”

Gabriel listened, undisturbed by the suggestion. “Dark,” he commented. Beelzebub had suggested plenty of dark scenarios, but none quite so close to home. Considering what little he had dragged out of Beelzebub about their mood of late, Gabriel understood the need for this kind of catharsis from his Ba’al. They had expressed an unusual amount of guilt, even uncharacteristic worry, that Gabriel hoped he could alleviate. It made him happy that Beelzebub could be so honest with him, even if the demon wouldn’t explicitly say what was bothering them.

“But,” Beelzebub ran their hands up Gabriel’s chest to cradle his strong neck, blue eyes growing dark and sultry. “You’ll uzze the lazzt of your ethereal grace to overpower me. Take me, claim me, punish me…” They kissed Gabriel softly. “Dezztroy me before I can dezztroy you…”

Gabriel’s hands slid around Beelzebub’s waist, drawing them against himself. “Really leaning into the punishment lately,” he mused in a low tone. “Your wish is my command.” He kissed the demon, humming as Beelzebub’s nails raked against his scalp. “Will you have a command word? For when you want me to turn the tables?”

Beelzebub felt a conflicted pleasure, dark and needling and heart-wrenching, to have Gabriel so compliant to their fucked up game. “When I call you ‘zzunzzhine,’” Beelzebub said softly, meeting those lavender eyes.

For being so near to the start of a scenario, Beelzebub looked tender. Those striking blue eyes had that flinty, brittle quality under the shadows of their heavy eyelids. Gabriel smiled. “That’s a good one. You never call me sunshine.”

Beelzebub took Gabriel by the tie and stepped backward. “Let’s go to the back room.” They gave Gabriel a sharp tug. “I’m going to make you beg to Fall. It will zzeem like zzweet releazze from my infernal fury.” It would pale in comparison to the real thing, but at least in this scenario, Gabriel would triumph. Gabriel wouldn’t stand a chance when it really happened. In retrospect, this scenario would just pile on top of all the other betrayals. What was one more? It wouldn’t matter, in the end.

Beelzebub kicked open the door to Gabriel’s playroom, lit very much like Hell, replete with a hard, stone floor decorated with a mandala of both ethereal and occult sigils; a seal of both Heaven and Hell in tenuous balance.

The Lord of Hell dragged Gabriel in and the game began. They tore him forward and sent him sprawling to his knees over the mandala. “ _ Finally,  _ after all thezze yearzz,” Beelzebub growled. “The great Archangel has  _ Fallen. _ ” It wouldn’t happen like this. There would be no furious triumph.

“No…” Gabriel argued and scrambled back on the floor as Beelzebub slowly approached. “It can’t be. What have you done to me?” Gabriel boomed.

“What I had planned all along, you mizzerable fool.” Beelzebub reached for Gabriel’s shirt, grabbing him roughly. “Did you really think you could stay pure of my corruption?”

“How could you do this to me?” Gabriel begged. Beelzebub hated how their heart ached. It was better to get used to it now. A little rehearsal to soften the blow. It would ease their suffering later.

“Did you think I ever really loved you?” Beelzebub sneered in a cruel tone. They wished that were true. It would be so much easier if they hadn’t fallen in love. Beelzebub didn’t even know how Gabriel had done it. He’d built a heart that could love out of darkness and torment and pain. A fitting punishment for the Lord of Hell.

“All this time…” Gabriel’s face twisted in pain. Beelzebub hated how they loved to see him like this. That’s what had drawn them in all those years ago, at that stupid birthday party. Gabriel had been upset, and Beelzebub twisted the knife, and then he looked  _ so beautiful  _ in anguish _ . _

“I love to zzee you zzuffer…” Beelzebub buzzed sweetly, then crushed Gabriel’s lips with a punishing kiss. “Do you know what it’zz like to Fall, Gabriel?” Beelzebub asked and shoved the angel back to the ground. “You azzked me once…” With a snap, the demon removed Gabriel’s clothes. His tense, chiseled frame looked deliciously vulnerable scrambling back from them. “But I didn’t want to ruin the zzurprizze,” they growled with a sick grin. They lunged forward and raked their fingers over Gabriel’s chest, imbued with a touch of Hellfire that set Gabriel’s skin alight, marking his perfect flesh with angry red lines.

Gabriel growled and grabbed at Beelzebub’s wrists, wrenching their hands away. The demon’s icy gaze flared angrily and they whipped their hands free. With another sharp snap, they bound Gabriel’s wrists together tightly in brutal chains.

“You don’t get to touch me,” Beelzebub snarled and grabbed Gabriel by his hair, dragging him forward. “You’ll never get to touch me again.” 

The angel winced against their brutal grip and struggled to pull his legs under himself. “Don’t lie to yourself, Beelzebub,” he challenged in a low voice. “You  _ crave  _ my touch.”

Beelzebub laughed, cruel and mocking. “You were never worthy.”

Those words cut Gabriel to his core--the denial of his worthiness that he had come to cherish so much from his lover’s lips. Beelzebub’s eyes blazed with triumphant fire as they sneered down at him. Gabriel’s strong showing faltered.

“You were never more than a pet to me,” Beelzebub said. They used the slack of the chain extending from the bonds around Gabriel’s wrists to whip around his neck, tight enough to dig into his flesh. The links locked together in an unrelenting collar, keeping Gabriel’s wrists choked up to his chest.

“You took to training  _ zzo  _ well,” Beelzebub buzzed as they stroked Gabriel’s cheek. The angel jerked away from the touch, chains rattling as he fought against the bonds that threatened to choke him. “Too zztupid to disobey. Too zztupid to even notice your own corruption.” Beelzebub had been careful not to corrupt Gabriel too quickly, not to make it hurt, not to let it consume him.

“You don’t have to do this,” Gabriel breathed. “You’re the Lord of Hell--”

“Oh, but I  _ want  _ to do thizz, Gabriel.” Beelzebub pulled Gabriel forward with a clink of chain. “You’ve become zzuch a glutton for punishment… You might actually enjoy Falling.” The Lord of Hell narrowed their eyes at Gabriel. The tense air filled with the sound of several lengths of chain raining down from the ceiling, coiling in clinking, liquid-like pools of metal. The cool metal slithered serpentine over the stone floor, creeping around Gabriel’s bare, taut muscles. He jerked and tried to get away from the coiling links, but Beelzebub held him in place by the length of chain between throat and bound wrists.

“You’ve been tortured before,” Beelzebub mused. Gabriel’s breath caught as the chains tightened around his torso, around his thighs, forcing them apart. “Do you zztill have nightmarezz?” they asked. “The Ultor… their Third Heaven…” The Lord of Hell released their grip on Gabriel’s chains and took a leisurely step back. 

The angel grit his teeth as the chains dug in, dimpling his skin as they tightened and began to lift him, powerless, from the ground. The chains had bound his calves to his thighs, snaked up around his torso to provide enough support that it wouldn’t tear him apart--yet. The strain on his thighs and hips seared his muscles, but the unrelenting chain remained ice-cold against his flesh.

Beelzebub took a slow tour around Gabriel’s bound and suspended form until they stood behind him to admire the scars upon his back. “You actually  _ liked  _ it when I played with your woundzz,” the demon growled from behind the helpless angel as their fingers skimmed up his arched spine.

Gabriel shivered at the warm trickle of Beelzebub’s breath against his bare shoulder, the whisper of fingertips against his skin. “You were taking care of me,” he said thickly.

The demon laughed and scraped nails down the twisted, raw flesh of his scars. The chains rattled as Gabriel arched away from the touch. Although the rent flesh had healed better than either of them had expected, it was still mottled and sensitive. It reminded Beelzebub of their own boils and scars apparent in Hell. “I was juzzt there to  _ witnezz  _ your zzuffering,” Beelzebub hissed.

“Beelzebub,  _ please, _ ” Gabriel begged. His body betrayed what Beelzebub’s powerful domination did to him, familiar and yet always a shock to his system, unable to resist the sinister arousal that bloomed in him. “You’ve said… all these years… that you would destroy me if I Fell,” he whispered.

“I  _ promizzed, _ ” Beelzebub sneered. “I keep my promizzezz,” they breathed in a dark voice against Gabriel’s ear. “But it would be a damn zzhame not to have you one lazzt time…” Beelzebub spanked Gabriel’s vulnerable ass, and the angel tensed against the chains that held him. “After all the hard work,” the demon punctuated their words with another spank, “I put in all thezze yearzz.” Another slap sung against Gabriel’s clenched rear and the angel couldn’t hold back a gasp. “All thezze yearzz enduring your  _ inzzufferable  _ affection,” Beelzebub growled and struck Gabriel even harder.

The angel whimpered and bit his lip as the chains that suspended him rattled and shook with the force of Beelzebub’s merciless hand. He felt that tantalizing shame for how hard this humiliation made him. He was weak to that commanding tone, and the nature of this scene made him feel more powerless than ever. He was utterly at Beelzebub’s mercy, and the Lord of Hell was not known for being merciful. Gabriel longed to feel that power and rage, the most intense of Beelzebub’s emotions, the demon’s release that opened the valves to their other emotions usually kept tamped down so tight.

“I will admit,” Beelzebub buzzed as they raked their nails over Gabriel’s spanked-red flesh and made the angel shudder, “you are my finezzt work.” The demon laved a devilish tongue over Gabriel’s throat.

Beelzebub’s slick tongue burned against his skin, but Gabriel let out a shameful moan. The sound brought a harsh laugh from the demon.

“Lizzten to you… Eager to Fall for me all over again.”

“I would do anything for you, my love,” Gabriel gasped.

Beelzebub grimaced and spanked Gabriel again. “What did you zzay to me?” they snapped.

“Anything for you, my love,” Gabriel said desperately. “My Ba’al.”

Beelzebub’s heart twisted painfully in their chest, and they took it out on Gabriel’s ass. “You inzzufferable fool! Don’t you get it?” they shouted.

Gabriel whimpered as his muscles strained from the assault.

“I made you Fall!” Beelzebub growled.

“I’ve endured torture for you before,” Gabriel bit back. “ _ From  _ you before.”

“Oh, thizz will be different, Archangel. Even a zzick fuck like you won’t enjoy Falling,” Beelzebub sneered. They stormed around to face him. Gabriel’s face was wrought delicate and submissive, cock standing hard between his legs. Beelzebub couldn’t restrain themself. Their nerves were too raw from this fucked up game, the truth and the lies, and that beautiful look of surrender on Gabriel’s face. They grabbed him sharply by the jaw and devoured his mouth passionately.

The angel sank into the touch desperately. He could taste Beelzebub’s desire, the true passion and love in that touch that superceded the trappings of their scene. His bound hands touched the demon’s face, holding their cheeks as much as he could.

The Lord of Hell recoiled from the touch and slapped Gabriel. “You’re not worthy of touching me,” they reminded him sharply. That wasn’t true.  _ They  _ were not worthy of the angel’s touch. Not after what they had done, what they had to do.

Gabriel’s breath hitched as he was slapped away from his beloved. His chest rose and fell heavily, every breath a reminder of the chains that bound him, how powerless he was to Beelzebub’s whims. “You really mean it…” he breathed. “You really betrayed me…”

“And yet you zztill dezzire me,” Beelzebub said. It was in their demonic nature to be cruel, to hurt and torture a thing so full of light and love. But they found they had to bite back their emotions, a strange kind of torture all their own. “You were alwayzz fucked up, Gabriel,” they bolstered themself forward in the scene. “It’zz a wonder it took zzo long for you to Fall…”

Beelzebub grabbed Gabriel’s cock roughly and the angel bit back a moan. “I’ll zzhow you the  _ true  _ power of the Lord of Hell,” they growled with a grin. The snap of their fingers echoed in the room, but Gabriel couldn’t see what that devilish intent had done. 

Suddenly, he felt hands upon him, searing, scraping across his skin. He was alarmed to be touched by someone--something--other than Beelzebub, more so because it didn’t feel like the hands of another corporeal form. The touch was sinister, infernal. 

He wrestled against the chains and turned his head. The collar of chain around his neck dug into his skin as he saw the shadows of the room had grown darker behind him. He caught glimpses of blue pin-pricks piercing the blackness, eyes--like Beelzebub’s eyes. Over one shoulder, a ragged silhouette of the demon formed from shadow, blazing blue eyes, a rip-like mouth spread in a horrible grin. Another shadow form cut from darkness lurked over his other shoulder. 

Their hands burned cold as ice as they crawled over his flesh. Beelzebub’s hot palm stroking over his cock brought his attention back to the Lord of Hell. “Are you afraid of the darknezz, Gabriel?” Beelzebub purred.

The shadows scraped against his chest, icy tendrils wrapped around him from behind. He felt the impression of lips, of tongues, burning cold against his neck, formless and alien and tantalizing him inch by inch. His breath froze up in his throat and he writhed helplessly in the chains.

Beelzebub released his cock and slowly stepped back, abandoning Gabriel with their shadowy forms. A cold tendril replaced their hand and Gabriel gasped in shock.

The shadow forms were not limited to the restraints of human corporations, or their arrangement of limbs. Gabriel’s flesh was being assaulted by more tendrils than he could count, more tongues and mouths, and they kept spreading. His neck was devoured by some impossibly cold mouth, while finger-like tendrils sent his thighs trembling. The heat of his arousal in the pit of his stomach felt impossibly hot, like Hellfire, as his flesh was molested by such frigid touches.

Gabriel felt helpless as the cold seeped into his muscles with fear. Beelzebub felt so far away, watching him dispassionately as he was ravaged by thoughtless, boundless fiends. Just how far would Beelzebub push his limits before they called for the turn of the scene?

His coherent thoughts scattered as he felt tendrils skating over spank-heated flesh, prying between his legs, writhing against his entrance. His body jerked violently against the chill touch and reacted on instinct to get away from this  _ evil. _

“Beelzebub--no!” he gasped. He writhed and his chain restraints cut cruelly into his flesh, face twisted in discomfort as the shadow began to pry him open. The angel groaned, but it was a mean, dreadful sound. “S-stop,” he panted. He knew it wouldn’t. Not from words like ‘no’ and ‘stop,’ words he found spilling out of his mouth when the scenario was intense. There was a word--a promise to put an end to the scene.

Beelzebub would only stop if Gabriel didn’t feel safe. If it was truly too much and the balance of pleasure and pain tipped too much to the negative, Gabriel knew he could tell his lover that he didn’t feel safe. Perhaps it was unimaginative that their safe word actually had to do with feeling safe, but angels and demons were not known for their imagination.

Beelzebub observed with grim pleasure as Gabriel came undone, licked by shadowy corruptions almost too real. The angel cried out and wrung his neck red as he struggled against the chains bound around his wrists, the first cold tongue of shadow penetrating him. Another flickered around his hole as the first widened and stretched Gabriel open. The demon could see Gabriel’s cock weeping between the chains welting his thighs, relishing the sight with a lick of their lips. It was beautiful misery to see him so tortured in pleasure.

Gabriel felt the shadow slide inside him and moaned as it grew thicker and went deeper and deeper. Just how deep could a formless shadow fill him up? He was afraid it would spear right through his corporation, careless of his unnecessary organs. It writhed inside him unlike anything else he had ever felt, and his eyes prickled at the intensity.

As the second tendril began to push against the first, like greedy fingers fighting to be inside him, Gabriel’s eyes flew wide. The first thing he saw was Beelzebub standing there, allowing him to be so violated, but they were  _ there. _ He felt safe.

“B-Beelzebub p-please,” he wept, then cried out sharply as the second tendril began spreading him impossibly further. The air was sucked out of his chest and he choked helplessly, overwhelmed by the stretch of his body, unable to escape. It felt as if he were going to be ripped apart by the squirming tendrils plunging inside him, moving against each other, bumping clumsily against his prostate. He saw stars and black spots in his vision and felt true terror that he was going to be swallowed in shadow to never escape.

“Pleazze what?” The heels of their boots clicked on the stone floor as they advanced on their lover suspended in chains and violated by shadow.

Gabriel clung to Beelzebub’s voice, his senses a wreck of pleasure and pain. “P-please…” he gasped weakly.

Beelzebub could see how ruined Gabriel was, lost in the scene, in the overstimulation. They grabbed Gabriel’s chin sharply. “Pleazze what?” they snapped more forcefully.

Gabriel’s blown-out lavender eyes focused on Beelzebub and he smiled dumbly. He could feel the warmth of Beelzebub’s fingers, like a fire chasing away the cold black of night.

“Pleazze make you safe?” Beelzebub asked. Gabriel was dangerously deep, and Beelzebub would not forgive themself if they took too much from Gabriel now.

“Please…” Gabriel whispered breathlessly. “Please let me Fall,” he begged.

Gabriel’s ability to surrender and give them so much never ceased to amaze Beelzebub. It was one of the things they loved about him. He took so well to being rendered powerless, to being used, and he wore his pain  _ so  _ beautifully. The Lord of Hell grinned.

“I knew you would beg… No. You won’t Fall yet.” Beelzebub seared Gabriel’s slack lips with a kiss that made him moan and whimper and beg desperately.

The sloppy tendrils of shadow began to retreat and Gabriel cried as they slurped from inside him. The merciless tongues and fingers of icy blackness began to retreat and he shuddered from the sudden lack of stimulation. “N-no… no…” he babbled, unsure whether he wanted them to return, or he wanted to be free from whatever Beelzebub intended for him next.

“I haven’t had  _ my  _ way with you yet,  _ zzunzzhine, _ ” Beelzebub growled against Gabriel’s ear as they tore at his hair.

Gabriel groaned with relief and desire. Beelzebub’s heat against him had him shuddering with want, the sudden change from ice to fire so intense he almost forgot himself and his part in the scene. He wanted Beelzebub to fill him up, to burn away the cold, bizarre feeling of shadow inside him. “Please, please, please…” he begged against Beelzebub’s neck.

The demon wondered if Gabriel would be capable of fulfilling his end of the scene as he begged so desperately against their neck. Even if the scene ended like this, with Beelzebub fucking him after violating him with shadows, neither would be disappointed. The demon pressed their erection against Gabriel’s abused hole and the angel nearly came.

With a grunt of relief, Beelzebub pierced the angel. Their eyelids fluttered at the ecstasy of filling Gabriel up as the angel groaned and begged. The demon pulled Gabriel against themself and the angel cried for more.

“I just want to touch you, please, just once more,” Gabriel begged mindlessly. “Let me touch you. Let me make you feel good. Let me have you. One last time. One last time.”

It nearly broke the demon to hear Gabriel beg like that, like he was really about to Fall, like it would be the last time. Their nails dug into Gabriel’s hips and they cursed the prickling of their insides, and the demonic lust that would not quit. This might very well be the last time. Their throat felt thick and their eyes stung.

“Thizz izz the lazzt time, zzunzzhine,” Beelzebub prompted him again in a strangled voice.

Gabriel panted and tried to pull Beelzebub closer to him, to lose himself in that familiar heat and sickly-sweet smell, to feel that so-good cock plunging inside him. It was the frustration, the desperation that spurred him on. His Ba’al had given him permission--no, his Ba’al had  _ ordered  _ him to take control of the scene.

The former archangel unfurled his wings, and Beelzebub was genuinely stunned at their brilliance. With a burst of holy light and a gust of wind from those powerful wings, the chains shattered from Gabriel’s glowing form. The shrapnel flew in all directions, tearing at Beelzebub’s clothes and flesh, and they stumbled back. Gabriel rushed forward, his weakened limbs supported aloft by his wings, and grabbed Beelzebub by the neck, plunging with them to the unforgiving floor. The Lord of Hell saw stars as their skull cracked against the floor, and they were dazzled by Gabriel’s celestial glory.

“ ** _No,_ ** ” Gabriel boomed. “E-even if I F-fall…” he growled. He could see tears in Beelzebub’s eyes, two icy blue pools swimming with pain and he faltered. “Even if I Fall…” his voice shook. He knew distantly that he was supposed to ‘destroy’ Beelzebub in this moment.

“What?” Beelzebub spat.

“Even if I Fall, I will come back to you,” Gabriel said in a passionate rush and kissed Beelzebub deeply.

The Lord of Hell let out a strangled cry against his lips and pushed at his strong chest, fighting against him. Instead of tightening his grip on Beelzebub’s throat, Gabriel softened his touch up their jaw. He held the demon down with a firm grip on their hip, but it wasn’t the punishing hold his lover had asked for.

Beelzebub tried to shove Gabriel away, but it was half-hearted and swiftly weakening. Gabriel’s lips were too sweet, his touch too comforting. They felt tears fall from their tightly shut eyes, and the gasp that broke their kiss was thick. Gabriel’s lips moved hungrily over the demon’s neck, and Beelzebub surrendered. Their hands stopped struggling, instead grasping, touching, holding tight to Gabriel against them.

The angel made quick work of their torn clothes and kissed the small hurts from the explosion of chain. When their bodies came together, there was no fight for dominance, just desire. Gabriel sank deep inside Beelzebub’s vulva with a sharp gasp of pleasure, and Beelzebub fought only to find his lips and kiss him. The angel wrapped Beelzebub up in his arms and held them close as he rocked inside of them.

He felt no pressure to be rough, not with Beelzebub in their current state. The demon was quiet and refused to meet his gaze. They hid against his chest, nails digging desperately into his back. Gabriel kissed them tenderly between gasping breaths. He wouldn’t last long, but he wanted desperately to make love to Beelzebub, to show them that no matter how they might torture him, he would still love them.

Beelzebub’s hitched breath was half-pleasure, half-sob.

“You feel so good, Bee,” Gabriel whispered. He ran a hand up the demon’s slim torso, caressing their breast. “Am I making you feel safe?” he husked.

“I want you,” Beelzebub gasped thickly as their thighs tensed around his hips. The scene had all but vanished from their mind, lost to this desperate desire to consume Gabriel, inside them, against them, in every breath.

“I’m all yours,” Gabriel promised. He tried to focus, to sense what Beelzebub’s body wanted. This kind of tender denouement was rare, where Beelzebub’s wants and needs were unclear. Just to be inside the demon was ecstasy, feeling Beelzebub’s hips dragging against his own, ragged breathing in his ear. He wished he could understand this vulnerable aspect of Beelzebub, a change in their demeanor so gradual he hadn’t realized it was happening until it was right in his face, expressed in fits of tears and the desire for punishment.

Beelzebub angled their hips against Gabriel’s, working their slender body against his from their demanding grip on his broad shoulders. The angel returned their questing hips with his own, driving into them, every thrust threatening to make them overflow with pleasure.

“More,” Beelzebub growled, but there was a desperate lilt to their voice.

“I-I’m so close,” Gabriel admitted.

“I  _ need  _ you,” Beelzebub growled more fiercely.

The sound of Beelzebub’s voice sent a sharp spike of desire straight to Gabriel’s cock. He heard Beelzebub buzz in his ear as they felt his cock throb inside them, and Gabriel whined. “Bee,” Gabriel gasped and leaned into them, pressing them to the floor. The demon moaned and forced Gabriel’s face against their neck, not wanting the angel to see them in this vulnerable pleasure.

Wordlessly, Gabriel obeyed and kissed at Beelzebub’s throat, drawing more delicious sounds from it. He breathed hot on the demon’s flesh as he fucked himself closer and closer to the edge, silently begging for Beelzebub’s pleasure. He ran his hand between their bodies as he pressed his brow against their chest and found their cock, loving every inch of Beelzebub’s body.

The demon groaned and rolled their head back against the stone floor as they drug a hand through their own hair. Gabriel knew every bit of them, loved every bit, regardless of their strangeness, their cruelty, their lack of capacity for the kind of love he so desired. Beelzebub leaned into that tenderness now, craving Gabriel at his most honest. They felt like they were going to climax. They felt like they were going to cry. Gabriel was doomed, and so were they.

The angel whispered sweet nothings against their skin, whimpered as he felt Beelzebub tighten and tremble around him. He wrapped them up tightly, encouraging them as his own orgasm crashed into theirs. The angel and demon shuddered and clung to each other desperately until the last.

  
  



	14. Lips Betray With a Kiss

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel comes to a realization.
> 
> _"What happens now?"_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title is more lyrics from ["A Glass Can Only Spill What it Contains"](https://youtu.be/SMd35tfCiXQ) by MeWithoutYou.

Beelzebub was not an open book. The Lord of Hell was the opposite--a book sealed, the pages not even cut, locked tight, deep in a private collection where nary a soul could ever witness what may or may not have been writ on their pages.

But Gabriel had studied what was written  _ about  _ their contents. He had learned from the only scholar on the subject: Beelzebub themself. He may not have been particularly clever, only sometimes aware of how to connect the dots or form his own theories, nor was he especially good at remembering all the little details, but he had his indomitable determination.

Beelzebub had been most communicative over the years about what they wanted in moments like this, when they were exhausted, blissed out, overwhelmed, shut down, locked up. Gabriel knew they did not want to be held, no matter how vulnerable they looked. The demon did not want to be kissed, or have whispers of love spoken against their flesh. They wanted neither praise, nor to be checked upon.

Gabriel stroked Beelzebub’s hair back from their cheek to reveal that vacant averted gaze. He wanted so badly to kiss them, to tell them the depth of his love, to promise what he’d said was true. But he would not--he  _ could  _ not, not when Beelzebub was like this. He wanted to miracle away the mess between their legs, to heal the little cuts scattered across Beelzebub’s body, the bloody split at the back of their head from being slammed into the unforgiving floor, but he had neither the power to do all that, nor permission.

Once the air had begun to still from their ragged breaths, Gabriel pulled away from Beelzebub reluctantly. His legs shook under him after such an intense scene, aching from the suspended chain restraints, but he steadied himself and scooped his prince into his arms. He stood with a quiet grunt and tried not to think too much about how utterly fragile Beelzebub felt, how terribly light they were in his arms.

He brought the demon to his bedroom and lay them down on the sheets. Beelzebub didn’t even look at him, their eyelids heavy and shading the delicate blue beneath. Gabriel knew Beelzebub was in pain, some kind of pain they would not share. He could only hope to help them work through it on Beelzebub’s own terms; a desire to be punished for some crime Gabriel was uncertain of. 

Although it broke his heart to leave Beelzebub so unresponsive, he did what he could. He dragged the blankets around them. He fetched them some wine, some chocolate, and left them wordlessly on the bedside table. The offerings registered and Beelzebub’s eyes flickered up at Gabriel for a moment. They buried themself deeper in the sheets.

Gabriel left the bedroom with a conflicted smile. He wished Beelzebub would  _ be there  _ with him, mentally, emotionally, and yet, he was grateful Beelzebub was there at all. The demon could have left, if they wanted to. They could have left him alone with his thoughts about what it all meant. The pieces were there. Gabriel wasn’t an  _ idiot,  _ no matter how many times Beelzebub lovingly called him such.

The angel went to take a shower. The adrenaline was seeping from his muscles, and he  _ ached. _ His limbs were covered in welts, and the skin of his back prickled. The shadows had ravaged every inch of him, left his scarred back singing. The rush of hot water helped. Behind closed eyes, he was revisited by the blackness that had crept into his vision as the shadows threatened to consume him--and Beelzebub. His beloved prince who had pulled him back from the brink, kept him  _ safe _ , even during their darkest moments.

But there were things Beelzebub couldn’t keep him safe from. Greater forces at work. He stood there, under the rush of hot water, for a long time.

  
  


Beelzebub heard the shower running. The static noise of it was soothing. The promise of privacy, more so. They reached for the wine and drank deeply. They were grateful to be left alone, given time to coalesce.

The demon knew the scene wouldn’t make them feel better. They had been unprepared for how much worse Gabriel’s emotional response to their duress would make them feel.  _ No,  _ they didn’t want Gabriel to promise to follow them to the depths of Hell and back.  _ No,  _ they didn’t want his forgiveness, his devotion. They wanted to feel his hatred, the sting of his betrayal. They wanted to taste his despair, to bask in his hatred, to feel the kiss of destruction.

How sweet it would be if what Gabriel said could be true. But it wasn’t so simple. When Gabriel Fell, he would be stripped of everything--all the things that made him who he was. All the things Beelzebub loved about him, the things that had  _ made  _ them capable of loving him. Gabriel would not come back to him. Some monstrosity in Gabriel’s shape would return from the torture of Falling, a ruined void where the Archangel Gabriel had once been.

Beelzebub fuzzed the edge of their self-inflicted torture with the rest of the wine. It dulled the ache, but could not cut it away. They brought the chocolate into their cocoon of blankets. It was meant to be restorative, but the effect on their neural pathways only made them want to cry.

Gabriel stepped out of the shower with a sigh. There was only one thing for it. He looked at himself in the massive mirror that stretched across one wall of the bathroom. He wore the sigils of chains across his wrists, thighs, ankles. The former archangel straightened himself, held the proud poise that befitted him, and he released his wings.

God, he  _ was  _ an idiot.

After a time, Beelzebub heard Gabriel come back to the bedroom. The angel sat on the far edge of the bed and set down a wine bottle with an almost-silent clink on the bedside table. Beelzebub dragged their empty glass off their own bedside table and stretched it out to Gabriel without turning.

The angel refilled their glass without a word.

Beelzebub drank deeply. The pull of the angel was impossibly magnetic.

Gabriel sat patiently on the bed. He could feel Beelzebub drawn toward him in stages. They finished their glass of wine in silence. Then, they threw back the covers. The demon sat up slowly. Gabriel slid his hand across the rumpled sheets--an offering. Beelzebub crept over, under the shield of his arm.

Gabriel moved slowly, first just to touch Beelzebub’s distant hand. He let the demon decide the pace at which they wanted to be held. To his surprise, they leaned against his side, let their head fall against his clavicle. Gabriel let his hand slide up Beelzebub’s arm, over their narrow shoulder. With a grateful sigh, he held them against him. He felt restored with Beelzebub like this, tucked against him.

“Do you feel better?” Gabriel asked softly.

“No,” Beelzebub replied in a flat tone.

The angel sighed again, this time in surrender. “Didn’t think you would.”

The demon lifted their gaze to meet those lavender eyes. Those soft purple eyes weren’t full of worry, like they had expected. All that met Beelzebub’s gaze was resignation. Knowing. The demon’s brow tensed, their teeth grit tight.  _ Gabriel knew. _

“How long…?” Beelzebub buzzed low.

Gabriel laughed humorlessly. “You know I’m an idiot,” he said easily. “I only just realized.”

The demon’s expression twisted in self-loathing agony.

Gabriel caught the wretched look from the corner of his eye. “You were right. I mean, how could I stay pure? I thought…”

“Gabriel,” Beelzebub pleaded. They didn’t want to think of the horrible things they had said during the scene--the horrible things they still had yet to say.

“But the rest…” Gabriel’s brow creased. He didn’t believe the other things Beelzebub had said during the scene were true. But…

“Yezz! No--Gabriel,” Beelzebub said thickly. “It wazzn’t true, it was juzzt--”

Gabriel curled his arm around Beelzebub, cradling their head against his neck. He pressed his cheek against their hair. “I know,” he said, his voice rough.

Beelzebub took a shaky breath and sank against Gabriel. This was it. He could feel Gabriel’s heart pounding. Was Gabriel angry? Or was he… afraid?

“You loved me, right?”

“Yezz,” Beelzebub whispered against Gabriel’s neck.

“That’s why you kept me away…” Gabriel felt Beelzebub shiver against him and he squeezed them closer. “That’s why you’ve been so angry… and upset…” The angel took a shuddering breath and smiled sadly. His heart was overflowing with love for Beelzebub.

“My poor prince,” Gabriel whispered. He turned to kiss Beelzebub’s hair, then touched their cheek, lifting their miserable face. “You’ve been carrying this burden all by yourself? All these years?” His eyes prickled with sympathetic tears that fell as he kissed the demon. “Oh, Bee,” he breathed, and kissed them again.

The Lord of Hell choked on a whimper as they felt the angel’s tears sting their skin. They couldn’t bear Gabriel’s pity, his understanding. Their hands came to Gabriel’s chest, begging him to stop.

“I’m sorry,” Gabriel apologized in a rush. “If only I hadn’t been so  _ stupid… _ ”

“Zzhut up,” Beelzebub choked out. “There’zz nothing you could have done.”

“I love you,” Gabriel said, as he had a thousand times before, but this time it felt final; one last promise.

Beelzebub looked up at Gabriel. “You’re  _ worthy, _ ” they said with such force that Gabriel’s smile shone brilliantly. No, that wasn’t good enough. Not when it was the last time. “I l-love you, Gabriel,” Beelzebub stammered, the words difficult for an entirely different reason.

Gabriel clung to Beelzebub, their normally weak heartbeat pounding against his own. He wanted to never let go. But they would have to face what lay before them. Beelzebub had tried to delay it for so long, given them so many years, but they couldn’t run anymore

“What happens now?” Gabriel whispered.

Beelzebub slowly withdrew. Their expression was so painful, it physically hurt Gabriel. He tried to soothe it with his touch, holding the prince’s face tenderly, stroking their pale cheeks.

“Do you truzzt me?” Beelzebub asked. The final blow. The end. No more delays. No ‘one more night.’ Nowhere to run.

“Of course I do,” Gabriel breathed. “Of course.”

Beelzebub touched Gabriel’s strong jaw. One last time, they traced over his cheekbone, brushed their fingers against his hairline. Their fingers lingered, a thumb against his lips, so familiar, so pliant and willing and loving--lips that would do anything for them. Anything but destroy the one he loved.

The demon’s hand fell away from Gabriel’s face in defeat. Their eyes grew hard, jaw set with cold finality. “A terrible mizztake.” With a dreadful snap, they vanished.


	15. Fate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _"Finally, the hour is upon us."_
> 
> After two decades of slow corruption, the time has come for the former Archangel Gabriel to Fall.

“Finally, the hour is upon us,” Leviathan spoke with thinly veiled menace. Ever monotone, even he could barely conceal his anticipation. 

“When will he arrive?” Verrine asked impatiently.

Asmodeus checked a gaudy, glittering watch on his wrist. “Any moment now…” He grinned side-long as Beelzebub. “I’ve heard he’s kept himself handsome,” he drawled. “I can’t  _ wait  _ to see if the rumors are true.”

Soneillon sneered and leaned forward to shoot Beelzebub a derogatory look. “I wouldn’t hope for much, given our  _ sister’s  _ taste.”

Dagon cleared their throat from where they stood beside the Lord of Hell’s throne. They only dared scowl out of the corner of their gaze at another prince of Hell, but their lord’s position was to be  _ respected. _

“Did you send enough of Eric?” Berith growled, a hungry glint of violence in her eye. She raised a brow, “I say we should have dragged him here ourselves. He was once the greatest warrior of Heaven.”

“He surrendered willingly.” Leviathan’s smile spread slowly across their mottled face. “You’ve outdone yourself, Lord Beelzebub.”

Beelzebub sat deep in their throne, staring straight ahead. Their impassive face gave none of the princes the satisfaction of seeing any emotional response. Beelzebub was emotionally overdrawn, by now. Emotionally bankrupt.

Demons weren’t meant to be wired for love, or for any emotion resembling their angelic counterparts. It was far easier to shed these disgusting emotions in Hell. But something had broken inside Beelzebub. This time it was impossibly hard not to feel anything.

Beelzebub had abandoned Gabriel. They should have stayed. They should have held him. They should have lied just once more and told him everything would be alright. They should have given him some hope, some promise that everything was okay.

But it wasn’t. They couldn’t lie to Gabriel anymore. The angel should have never trusted them. What idiot would trust a demon? Oh, right, an angel blinded by love. An angel lied to, lulled into a false sense of security. An angel stupid enough to think that everything was tickety-boo after he had been punished.

It wouldn’t stand. Not between an angel who had once been of such high standing, of such prestige, and the very Lord of Hell. Beelzebub had known it was doomed. Why had  _ they  _ done it? Did they really do it to watch him suffer? Deep in their dark heart, they knew they could not ignore their own demonic tendencies. Part of it had been the suffering. And what of the rest? If they truly loved Gabriel, they would have shunned him. If they truly did not want him to Fall, they would have ended it a long time ago. It was inevitable that it would end this way. One of them would have to face oblivion.

A nervous-looking Eric poked his head into the great hall. Beelzebub’s throne room had been expanded to accommodate the other seven princes, each on their own throne. The high princes Leviathan, Asmodeus, and Berrith flanked Beelzebub, albeit a step below the highest prince’s dais. Below them, Astaroth was slowly filling the air with foul-smelling smoke, through which Soneillon’s eyes glittered beside him. The horror of Gressil’s mangled body spilled over the sharp angles of it’s throne. Verrine tapped a ragged nail against the arm of their chair, but their impatience read more like anticipation on this fateful day.

“Aha, wow. What an audience!” Eric tittered nervously. All eyes hit him with the deadly aim of a sniper’s scope and he paled under the attention. He cleared his throat and tried to draw himself up importantly. “G-good, er  _ b-bad  _ Lords and princes and, erm, dukes,” he nodded to Dagon and Hastur.

“Get on with it!” Verrine snapped irritably. The force of their demand unintentionally destroyed the Eric.

Berith barked out a laugh.

Leviathan let out a small sigh. “Come forth, Erics.” His voice carried heavily through the chamber.

Another Eric appeared around the corner. “Right! May I present to you, the former Archangel, Messenger of God…” He strode forward with purpose, throwing out an arm in his wake to grandly present, “Gabriel, himself!”

Another two Erics appeared, faces painted with self-important grins, dragging heavy chains. Attached to the chains was the captured angel, naked but for the bonds that hung from his flesh. One chain for his shackled wrists, one for a collar around his neck. Another veritable gaggle of Erics stood on either side of him, each with a chain of their own. These were attached to cruel hooks that had been snagged through Gabriel’s wings. The soft heather-white of Gabriel’s wings was now not only tainted with gray, speckled with black, but also stained with the brassy sheen of his blood.

Despite the heavy chains, the agony of the Hellish hooks piercing his wings, Gabriel carried himself proudly. He walked with a purpose befitting him, his holy glory chasing back the gloom of Hell, jaw tight and lavender eyes focused straight ahead.

Beelzebub leaned their chin against their fist. “I thought you zzaid he came willingly,” they buzzed in a flat tone.

“It makes the Erics feel important to do the job to the letter,” Asmodeus purred. His eyes dragged hungrily over Gabriel’s naked form, a tongue passing over his lips. “He  _ is  _ delicious,” the prince of lust preened. “What do you say, brother? One last romp, let us all have a taste of a tainted angel?”

“No,” Beelzebub snapped sharply with such force and unexpected emotion that Leviathan looked at them. It was too much to be reminded of the fucked up scene they had asked of Gabriel mere hours ago.

Asmodeus’s eyes widened, then he laughed. “What’s that, little brother? Catch some feelings?” he teased with a cruel smirk.

“There’zz no time for your gamezz, Azzmodeuzz,” Beelzebub sneered. “Haven’t you waited long enough?”

“Too long,” Verrine growled.

The Erics brought Gabriel before the Dark Council and Beelzebub. The Lord of Hell felt a long-fingered hand creep over their shoulder and they tensed.

“Ahh, as promised,” Lucifer intoned, looming over Beelzebub’s throne. He was larger, almost twice the size of the other princes, God-like in stature and no less beautiful. “It is finally time to collect the Fallen archangel.”

Gabriel raised his gaze and could not hide his surprise to see Lucifer much the way he had looked before the Fall. “Lucifer…” he breathed. The last he had seen Satan, the Fallen angel had worn the face of a beast. He didn’t realize the Infernal King still had the capacity for his angelic form. It sickened him to see Satan wear it so beautifully.

“Yes. I kept the name, even though Mother tried to take it from me. You do well to remember it, Gabriel,” the Infernal King said smoothly, though his fingers dug into Beelzebub’s shoulder, almost piercing the fabric of their suit. “You were surprisingly loyal to Her, considering your… unholy taste in my Lord of Hell.”

Gabriel was forced to look upon Beelzebub, and unlike the demon, he could not hide the pain, the love in that gaze. It mattered not that Beelzebub wore the scars and mottled flesh of their infernal form, that they were wreathed by swarms of flies. The lowest princes squirmed in disgust. “I love them,” Gabriel said sadly, and sounds of revulsion and dark amusement could be heard around the court room.

Beelzebub averted their gaze and dug the sharp edges of the throne into their palms until it hurt.

“Did my little butterfly tell you how they corrupted you?” Lucifer asked lightly.

Gabriel’s brow tensed. Just what lies would Lucifer try to feed him? He knew Beelzebub loved him. The demon hadn’t  _ done  _ anything to corrupt him--he had become corrupted willingly, fallen deeper and deeper in love with the one entity he shouldn’t have.

“Oh, they were very clever.” Lucifer’s talon-like fingers released Beelzebub’s shoulder, brushed over their cheek, stroked their hair.

Gabriel scowled as the Infernal King touched his impassive-faced beloved.

“Would you like to tell him, darling?” Lucifer asked as he draped his elegant form over the back of the Lord of Hell’s throne. “You’ve waited such a long time for this…”

Beelzebub swallowed on a throat that felt like it was full of nails. They sat forward, leaned their arms lazily against their knees. “It wazz the Mezzagezz,” Beelzebub drawled. “I tainted the very Mezzagezz you zzpoke from God. The holy warzz, the genocide--you did it. I made you do it.”

Asmodeus let out a giddy giggle, keening high-pitched. Leviathan, for the first time in a millennia, smiled. Berith rubbed her hands together with a growl of a sigh, as close to pleasure as the violent prince got. Gressil seethed and wriggled horribly in what one could assume was delight.

Gabriel stared hard, directly into Beelzebub’s unrelenting gaze. The demon’s face was smooth and devoid of emotion. Slow realization dawned on the angel, and his expression twisted. “You… you altered the Messages of God?” he asked weakly.

Beelzebub’s lips jerked into a smirk that spilled over into laughter. They laughed to force down the agony. The princes joined them, and soon the whole court was rattling with horrible laughter, shrieks of demonic pleasure. “You  _ fool, _ ” Beelzebub barked. “It was  _ zzo eazzy, _ ” they growled, hating how the words echoed in their ears.

Yes, let the princes laugh. Let Lucifer dine on this delightful cruelty. Let all the powers of Hell revel.

Beelzebub pushed themself from their throne and walked slowly down the steps of the dais, past the echelons of Hell’s hierarchy, advancing on their betrayed lover. “It wazzn’t juzzt your unholy love that brought you low, Gabriel…” Beelzebub said as their heavy boot-falls echoed through the chamber. “I did it.” The demon stood between the forces of Hell and the nigh-Fallen angel.

“No…” Gabriel took a step forward and was wrenched back by the Erics, a chorus of ‘ah-ah, no sir’ and wagging of fingers. The angel struggled in a violent burst, brow twisted in fury at his bonds. The Erics dug their heels in and the hooks tore at Gabriel’s strong wings as he let out a growl of frustration. Then his stern stare broke, shattered with disbelief. “No, you wouldn’t- you  _ didn’t _ ,” Gabriel moaned.

“Like a puppet on stringzz. You were juzzt following orders,” Beelzebub said innocently, brows lifted in a cold look. “The  _ wrong  _ orderzz.” That fiendish delight quirked Beelzebub’s lips, tugged in a sneer. They had to break him. They had to twist the knife. Just one last time.

“Beelzebub, you don’t have to do this. You don’t have to--” Gabriel refused to believe it. His beloved was so close, and yet so far away. There was none of the demon he loved in those cold eyes, in that twisted lip. Their eyes were empty, their smile hollow. It had to be some trick.

“You’ve been on Hell’zz payroll for almost two decadezz now, Gabriel.” Beelzebub strode forward and willed their heart to stillness. Gabriel couldn’t hear how their heart pounded, how it ached, how it broke. “It wazz… a delicate operation,” they mused as they dismissed one of the Erics with a flick of their gaze. Slender, cruel hands that had just hours ago held Gabriel, traced their love over his face, promised him that he was worthy, now took up the chain attached to the collar around his throat. “You might have alerted Heaven if you knew my  _ true  _ intentionzz,” Beelzebub explained.

“Why? Why did you have to--?” Gabriel begged in a small voice. Sorrowful lavender eyes implored Beelzebub, searched for any scrap left of the demon who had proclaimed their love to him.

“Don’t take it perzzonally,” Beelzebub said flatly and jerked Gabriel forward to silence him. “It’s juzzt buzzinezz, Gabriel. You understand.”

Gabriel was in shock. It should have hurt, the betrayal, the unyielding hooks in his wings, the too-tight shackles that burned against his flesh, but he just felt… empty. He felt as empty as those ice-cold eyes staring back at him. Blue eyes… Why had they changed? After all this time? The errant thought rattled in his numb mind.

“We’re juzzt bureaucratzz, you and I.” Just a little closer. Beelzebub wrapped Gabriel’s chain around their hand. “Buzzinezz associatezz.” With a jerk, Beelzebub brought Gabriel to his knees before them. “Nothing more.”

Gabriel’s head hung limply. Had he really been so stupid? Had he blinded himself with love enough for both of them? He was a fool. Of course a demon wouldn’t stay with an angel because of  _ love. _ The cold realization began to sink in: Beelzebub had used him. Just to get ahead in the war. That was it.

But the bright spot at the very core of his being couldn’t ignore the words that echoed in his ears.  _ You are  _ ** _worthy. _ ** _ I love you. _ Why would Beelzebub lie then? At the very last moment, why would they keep up the ruse?

“There’zz not much left to dezztroy,” Beelzebub mused casually. “But the agony of the Fall izz part of the tradition, you know.”

Gabriel slowly lifted his head. “Even if I Fall…”

Beelzebub’s eyes widened a fraction.  _ No. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. _ Their lips twisted in anguish.

Gabriel smiled. For a moment, he could see Bee, his beloved, looking back at him. They were afraid. But Gabriel knew he could make it all right again.  _ Don’t be afraid,  _ he wanted to say, he said in between the words he had rehearsed. “I’ll come back to you.”

Beelzebub welcomed destruction. “Say goodbye, Gabriel,” they whispered as they lifted a hand.

Gabriel felt his heart stop. That look on Beelzebub’s face--horror, pity,  _ surrender. _ Beelzebub wasn’t surrendering to their base nature. Gabriel saw it then in his lover’s expression. They were surrendering something else. For just a second, Beelzebub wore the most unusual look, shining through their pale, fragile eyes.  _ I’m sorry. _

“Bee,” he whispered and reached for them with his shackled hands, as if he could stop them.

The snap of Beelzebub’s fingers echoed through the chamber.

A deluge appeared above the imprisoned angel and the doomed Lord of Hell. A torrent of holy water, decades worth surreptitiously gathered and stored, secreted away where neither Heaven nor Hell could find it, rained down. Silence spiraled into chaos.


	16. Free From the Pain of Changing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> As the holy water rains down, long-forgotten memories come unbidden to Gabriel and Beelzebub.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Zebiel is my head-canon angelic name for Beelzebub. Other angels mentioned: Raziel, who takes the name Ligur when he Falls, and Saraqael, who takes the name Hastur.
> 
> Chapter title is from ["Morning After"](https://youtu.be/PAzNV68PKUo) by Ariel Pink and Weyes Blood. Lyrics from this song have been used for chapter titles throughout the entire series. It's quite possibly the anthem for 50 Shades of Bureaucracy.

_ “Zebiel. Why did you create these?” Gabriel swatted at a swarm of very annoying little flying things. _

_ “You’re not my boss,” Zebiel snapped. _

_ “Actually,” Gabriel swelled, then coughed, “oh, it got in my mouth. Oh, that is so unpleasant.” _

_ Zebiel couldn’t help but smirk. _

_ “Why would you create- ugh- make them go away.” Gabriel swayed and continued to swat ineffectually at the gnats. _

_ “To annoy you. A success, I’d say.” Zebiel grabbed Gabriel by the wrist and dragged him forward, spluttering and grumbling the whole way. “You’re in  _ their  _ way, not the other way around. Leave them be. Stop eating my creations.” _

_ After he was dragged a few feet away, Gabriel found himself finally free of the pests. “Oh.” _

_ “See?” Zebiel gestured to where the happy little swarm was still buzzing away, now free of the dangerous impediment that had been in their airspace. _

_ Gabriel considered the little cloud of static. “I don’t understand their  _ purpose. _ ” _

_ “Not your department, sunshine,” Zebiel said down their nose, despite the fact that Gabriel was a good foot taller than them. _

_ Gabriel gave Zebiel a tight-lipped frown. Zebiel gazed up at him, unimpressed. “Hm.” Gabriel’s gaze drifted across the Garden. It was lush, verdant life-giving green, perfumed with glorious blossoms of every color, and, increasingly, filled with the quiet orchestra of beetles, flies, crickets. Zebiel’s creations had turned the silent Garden into a landscape teeming with life. _

_ “Why don’t you create something beautiful?” Gabriel asked. His voice held a note of wonder--looking out at Creation had that effect on the archangel. _

_ Zebiel was watching a beetle crawl over their small fingers. The look of affection was subtle on the seraphim’s serious face, reflected on the beetle’s iridescent carapace from eyes of much the same colors. They looked up at Gabriel and scowled. “Are you zzzaying my creations aren’t beautiful?” they sneered with a buzz that only came out when they were especially peeved. _

_ “Yes,” Gabriel said flatly. “That,” he gestured to the beetle. “Is not what I would call beautiful.” _

_ “No one asked you,” Zebiel snapped and turned away sharply to hide the burn of their cheeks. _

_ Gabriel realized a moment too late that he’d done that thing--he’d said what was on his mind without thinking. Things had been so easy in the very beginning. All the angels shared nigh-identical celestial essence, the very Breath of God. The infancy of their Creation had been utterly harmonious. But as they were given duties, assigned tasks, and the whole of Creation on a broad scale got underway, they began to develop something divine: individuality. _

_ This came with some hurdles to overcome. Such as, realizing that what occurred to one angel might be at odds with what another felt. It was a strange thing, these emotions. Gabriel didn’t have much trouble speaking with his brothers, but he’d stumbled quite a bit when interacting with a certain seraphim. The challenge of it intrigued Gabriel, kept him returning to try again. _

_ “I… didn’t mean for that to come out so…” _

_ “Rude?” Zebiel leered over their shoulder at Gabriel. “Archangels,” they muttered under their breath. _

_ “I only meant--” Gabriel sighed and walked around Zebiel’s cold shoulder to face them. “Eden is so…” There were hardly words for it. “Beautiful,” he finished lamely. _

_ “Hence why I create practical things,” Zebiel quipped. _

_ Zebiel was too quick for him! How was he supposed to wheedle his way back into their good graces--or to  _ get  _ into their good graces in the first place; Zebiel always felt guarded around him--if the seraphim cut him off at every turn? _

_ “You’re very capable. To work on such a miniscule scale.” Gabriel caught Zebiel’s wrist and pulled their hand toward himself--both so that he could look at the beetle crawling over their pale knuckles, and so that Zebiel would pay attention to him. “They’re incredible. Tiny little organisms. More impressive, dare I say, than those big things with teeth Elial has been working on.” _

_ Zebiel glowered up at Gabriel, irritated that he was still bothering them. Why was he pestering them if he was just going to be insulting? The archangel’s grip on their wrist gave them pause, and their jaw tightened, ready for a fight. But then Gabriel praised them. His judgemental lavender gaze grew soft on the beetle he had declared ‘not beautiful.’ Zebiel felt their face grow warm. _

_ “I can only imagine what beautiful things you will create as we continue our work,” Gabriel said. _

_ The Messenger’s words washed over them and Zebiel felt drawn in. They swallowed the dry lump in their throat and jerked their hand free from Gabriel’s grip. _

_ Gabriel had felt a moment there where the tides were turning--and now Zebiel was retreating and turning a sharp shoulder on him again. He sighed. Maybe not all angels could get along anymore… _

_ But a few steps away, Zebiel stopped. They put their hands together in prayer, then slowly parted them. A pale blue light welled up from their palms. Their brow creased in concentration, and their eyes snapped open sharply. From the ethereal light came a flutter. A lazy, slow beat, then a rapid flickering, and out of Creation came the first butterfly. _

_ It was delicate and ephemeral, like Zebiel’s moods, Gabriel thought. Its wings were so thin, it was a wonder Gabriel couldn’t see through them. And the colors--a myriad of jewel-like tones, reminiscent of Zebiel’s eyes. It flapped lazily toward Gabriel and the archangel could not hide his child-like wonder. _

_ “Beautiful,” Gabriel gasped in awe. _

_ Zebiel frowned at Gabriel to hide the up-lifted feeling from the archangel’s appreciation. “It’s still practical,” they muttered. _

_ Gabriel held a broad hand out tentatively toward the fluttering new creation. It alighted upon his finger and he gasped again, “It has legs! Little tiny legs. Why should it have legs?” He laughed. _

_ “It needs something to land with, idiot.  _ You  _ have legs.” _

_ Gabriel looked abashed and pursed his lips. “So, what does it do?” _

_ “It pollinates flowers.” _

_ “Uh-huh?” Gabriel prompted. He didn’t actually know what the purpose of pollination was. _

_ “... To make more flowers,” Zebiel explained, impressed by Gabriel’s ignorance. _

_ Gabriel looked overjoyed by this development. “It  _ makes  _ flowers?” _

_ “No--” Zebiel tried to cut in to explain. _

_ “You’ve really outdone yourself. Beauty that propagates beauty.” Gabriel grinned at Zebiel. _

_ The seraphim felt that creeping, prickling hot feeling in their face again. They shouldn’t have cared what this idiot archangel thought, but…  _

_ “...Thanks.” _

_ Gabriel caught the smallest of smiles on the serious seraphim’s face and congratulated himself on an interaction well managed. _

_ “Why would you put something like  _ that  _ inside your corporation?” Gabriel asked, aghast at the very idea. _

_ Zebiel smirked at the archangel. “Because it feels good.” _

_ Gabriel looked uncertain, but these were curious times at the beginning of Creation. He tentatively reached out. _

_ Zebiel took a step closer and let Gabriel feel the weight of it in his hand. _

_ “It’s so hard…” _

_ “That’s just the outside,” Zebiel explained. “Inside, the flesh is tender and succulent…” _

_ “Why does it have spikes?” Gabriel asked, lifting the hard, heavy fruit in his hand to examine it. _

_ “Why are some of the flowers small and others large? Why some purple, some orange?” Zebiel offered. Gabriel so rarely asked questions, but Zebiel seemed to have finally stumped his logic. They couldn’t deny the amusement this brought them. _

_ Gabriel had proved innocent in a way that Zebiel found fascinating. For being one of the archangels, one of Her blessed few who remained in Her intimate audience, he was full of wonder. He wasn’t clever like Michael, or stubborn like Uriel. He wasn’t as self-possessed as Lucifer, and he was more grounded than Raphael. _

_ Though Zebiel found better company with the likes of Raziel and Saraqael, angels who had long since lost the luster of the Heavenly Host, who would rather be in Eden than watch from Above in Heaven, they found Gabriel’s honesty refreshing. _

_ Gabriel wasn’t clever, but he wasn’t stupid, either. He said what was on his mind, regardless of the consequence. He was fiercely loyal--to those he considered friends, be them Seraphim, Cherubim, or Shields, but especially to God. Zebiel would not admit it, but that Gabriel held his loyalty to his fellows so close to his loyalty to God made them feel… special. _

_ Gabriel was not deterred by Zebiel’s stoic demeanor. Their sharp words were treated not as a punishment or insult, but as a lesson. Gabriel felt as though he was learning valuable lessons about communication. He was the Messenger of God, and only as good as his communication skills. _

_ Zebiel had proven one of the most difficult to understand. Raphael may have always had his head in the clouds, but his wants and needs were simple enough to understand. Michael had a mind for procedures, standards, and rules. Straight-forward. Uriel, too, had a calculating mind, one steeped in the fundamental truths, in the elements, and the even more basic building blocks that formed them. Their specialties went over Gabriel’s head, but it was not his duty to understand the nature of Creation to that degree. Lucifer, his strangest brother, asked too many questions--esoteric queries that Gabriel could not fathom; philosophical soliloquies that seemed to ask so much, and answer so little. _

_ But Zebiel was a lesser force of nature. They had a specific duty, a niche both broad and particular. Gabriel had come to discover that over the course of Creation, the Seraphim were the ones who had carved out the most unique personalities. Most treated him with such deference that he was not exposed to the intimacies of their character--it was Zebiel who told him of conversations they had, of their humor, their fears (something Gabriel had never heard of), their desires (something Gabriel understood once it was explained to him). _

_ He had his own desire. It was not like the desires of his fellow archangels--sweeping longing for the majesty of Creation, to see God’s Work come to fruition, the aching anticipation to be the watchers and nurturers of the World. No, he had a desire much simpler. _

_ It was not something he chose. In comparison to those others of his rank, it seemed inconsequential. And why should he desire something so petty, so foolish? Was he not among the Heavenly Host? Did he not have thousands upon thousands of family? Did he not bathe in the Celestial Presence of Unity? _

_ But he found the companionship of one was superior to the rest. He desired Zebiel’s company. He enjoyed the challenge of their demeanor, the ephemeral nature of their moods, and most of all, he loved the way in which the Seraphim treated him as if they were the same. To Zebiel, he was not more worthy in the eyes of God, he was not a higher class of angel. If Zebiel ever called him ‘Archangel,’ it was in a sardonic tone, as if it were an insult, not a title. Gabriel loved Zebiel more than the rest. _

_ Zebiel took him by the wrist and led him under the globe-like branches of the tree. They sat down gracelessly at the foot of the trunk and turned the hard, spiky fruit over in their hands. _

_ Gabriel slowly lowered himself to join Zebiel. “You  _ put this, _ ” he held up the fruit, “ _ inside  _ your mouth?” _

_ Zebiel laughed. They never laughed in Heaven. Only here, in Eden, with him. “Yes, Gabriel. You put it in your mouth. And you chew it. Then you swallow it.” _

_ “You said it… feels good?” Gabriel asked. _

_ Zebiel worked the stem of the fruit. “Mm. It’s…” The Seraphim leaned back against the trunk and lowered the fruit to their lap. They closed their eyes and moved against the bark of the tree. The rough texture pulled at their Heavenly robes, rasped against their skin. “It’s not exactly a feeling. It’s… hard to describe. It’s something new.” _

_ Gabriel brought the fruit up to his open mouth and bit down on the hard outer flesh. It did not yield, and a spike caught his lip. He jerked back, and an automatic sound emerged from his throat, “Ow.” _

_ Zebiel opened their eyes and looked at Gabriel. “What was that noise?” Zebiel laughed. _

_ Gabriel put a finger to his lip. It felt raw and tender and wet. _

_ “Did you try to eat it without peeling it?” Zebiel asked. “You really are a fool.” _

_ Gabriel pulled his fingers away and saw something there. It was dark, brass-colored, shining. _

_ Zebiel’s grin faded slowly. They looked at Gabriel with wonder. “You’re… bleeding.” Zebiel had never seen the blood of an archangel before. They had seen the blood of other angels. The Seraphim had taken some enthusiasm in “testing out” the Garden and all its wonders, all its dangers. Perhaps they’d had a little too much fun climbing trees, or played a bit too carelessly with the beasts great and small. Their corporations for Eden were more fragile than the celestial forms they wore in Heaven. _

_ Zebiel took Gabriel by the chin, turning his strong jaw so that they could look at the trickle of the archangel’s burnished-gold blood. _

_ Gabriel ceased breathing as Zebiel looked at him so strangely. It caused his chest to feel tight with that last breath trapped inside it. What Zebiel did next was inexplicable. The Seraphim brought their lips toward his own. He felt their tongue against his skin, over his lip, burning where the fragile skin of his corporation had split.  _

_ Zebiel was all hard angles, lean muscles, wiry and sharp. But this part of Zebiel, their lips, were soft beyond measure. The Seraphim caught his lower lip between their own, soothing away the cut left by the spiky fruit. Gabriel had never felt something so tender, so utterly intimate, with another angel. He dare not say it, he barely dared to think it, but it rivaled even God’s love. _

_ Zebiel parted lips with Gabriel and savored the taste on their tongue. Gabriel’s essence. When they opened their eyes, Gabriel was staring at them, bare inches between them. _

_ Without a word, Gabriel took Zebiel’s cheek in his hand and brought their lips together once more. Zebiel touched the back of Gabriel’s hand on their cheek, and leaned into the press of his lips. _

_ Zebiel had never allowed anyone close enough to touch them. Nor was anyone eager to chance it with the sharp-tempered, spike-tongued Seraphim. Gabriel had touched their hand, their wrist, their shoulder--but never like this. Never so tenderly. Zebiel turned toward Gabriel, leaned into his palm, sought out this new sensation. _

_ Gabriel knew that mouths were meant for communicating. Normally, that meant talking. Sometimes, except in the case of Zebiel, it meant emoting. He had never been told about  _ this  _ kind of communication. A revelation so brilliant, he couldn’t help but smile against Zebiel’s lips, hit him all at once.  _ This  _ was how he could properly express how much he loved Zebiel above all the rest. _

_ Zebiel could feel it. Sometimes Gabriel would radiate this love--Zebiel just assumed it was an archangel thing, or a Messenger of God thing. But now Zebiel felt it poured into this touch of their lips, and they realized it was for  _ them. _ Gabriel didn’t radiate love for Creation or for the other angels, not like this. _

_ The Seraphim wanted to be closer. They wanted to feel Gabriel’s firm, physical body against their own. They pressed forward, bumped against his nose, their brow meeting his as their lips parted for a moment. As Zebiel untangled a leg in their robes and moved it over Gabriel’s own, the archangel found their hip, welcoming them, drawing them in. _

_ The heat of breath between their barely-parted mouths seemed to surprise them both. Brand new nerve endings lit up, sending signals like wildfire--more, more, more. _

_ Zebiel cradled Gabriel’s face in their hands like something precious, and kissed him twice as dearly. Gabriel’s hands went from cheek to neck, hip to ribs, and stilled only once the Seraphim was pressed utterly against him. _

_ For a long time, they stayed that way, unable to tear themselves away from this perfect language. It was foreign, and yet it was as if they had known the vocabulary all along and merely needed to discover it existed. _

_ Angels of every strata of the hierarchy were beings of love. To say ‘I love you,’ was to affirm the fact of one’s existence. ‘I love you’ paled in comparison to this wordless union, this language of sensation, caress, lips and fingers, the security of another body, of not being alone, not being untouchable or unattainable. _

_ “You’re shaking…” Gabriel whispered. Their kisses had grown shorter with longer breaths in between, timeless moments where their eyes met, shied away, and sought each other out again. _

_ Zebiel tried to form words, any way to describe the reason they were left trembling in his arms. Instead, all they could do was shake their head, still his hand from brushing soft fingertips against their cheek. _

_ “I wasn’t sure if…” Gabriel’s words hung useless in the wake of the mouth-to-mouth conversation they’d been having. _

_ Zebiel’s lips cracked into a smile and their glittering eyes met Gabriel’s once more. “Is there any question?” they whispered. _

_ Gabriel did not reply, except with a kiss. _

_ “You don’t have to do this.” _

_ The days had all been nice. Well, there weren’t exactly days. The time had all been nice. The glittering glory of God spread over all of Heaven. But not this day. Something had happened. Something had changed. _

_ The schism in the order of things that could not be rectified had begun. _

_ The wind screamed and whipped at their robes, tore at their wings. Clouds that had never considered being any color but pale blue and butter yellow and fluffy white were now torn into streamers of ominous gray, dreadful black, noxious green, purple as a bruise. God’s fury cracked open the sky in blinding bolts that washed everything out in stark white, and left behind dread shadows. _

_ “You’re wrong. Can’t you see it’s all wrong?” Zebiel demanded. “Gabriel, you’re an idiot, but you’re not stupid. Can’t you see?!” _

_ “You don’t have to do this!” Gabriel shouted again over the roar of the wind. His robe was already tainted with blood, his gleaming sword tarnished and dripping with it. _

_ “It’s too late!” Zebiel screamed. _

_ Gabriel saw fury, yes, but he also saw fear. He reached out to Zebiel and the Seraphim drew their slender sabre in front of them. The archangel’s dark eyes filled with pain. “She will forgive you! Zebiel, please!” _

_ “You’ve already made your choice,” Zebiel said as they looked at Gabriel’s blood-streaked blade. They met his eyes. “And I’ve made mine.” _

_ Gabriel glanced at his blade and felt a pang of regret. He hadn’t chosen to slay his own brethren. It was kill or be killed--they were traitors. They had questioned the word of God, broken their loyalty by Creation. They were the unnatural ones, mutations of Her Grace. But not Zebiel… Why Zebiel? _

_ “Say goodbye, Gabriel,” Zebiel whispered. _

_ Before Gabriel could say the words, Zebiel was ripped away by a gust. The light was stolen from their eyes, from their very essence, as they plunged over a cliff of cloud. _


	17. Resignation/Destruction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This is what happens when holy water rains down on a Lord of Hell who has fallen for an Archangel.

In the spare seconds that the holy water hung suspended above them, it dawned on Gabriel why Beelzebub had been so inconsolable, ran him through like a spear. It wasn’t because they had doomed him to Fall. It wasn’t because they had betrayed and used him. It was because they had planned their own destruction.

The deluge of holy water blinded him, stung every inch of flesh, burned his wounds. It seared away the evil that had been slowly sinking talons into him over the past two decades. The holy water made him pure again. The only way Beelzebub could save him.

It was not enough to prevent him from Falling. It had to come to this for him to truly be free. Beelzebub would never be free. Not ever. The only way they could put everything to rights was to purify Gabriel and destroy themself in the process.

Gabriel was deafened by screams and the roaring sizzle of obliviation. He cried out and lunged forward, scrambling desperately for Beelzebub, horrified by the thought of Beelzebub’s screams in the cacophony of agony all around him. Would his beloved suffer? Would their agony be brief?

The princes of Hell scrambled like rats back from the rush of holy water flooding the chamber. They hissed mindless expletives as they watched the holy water splash over Gressil. The monstrosity let out an ear-piercing shriek as it bubbled and melted into black sludge.

The Erics had been the first to be reduced to smoke and ash. Their deaths had been brief, barely a blip in the chaos of demons fleeing the holy water. Hastur was inconsolable, his greatest fears realized.

“Beelzebub!” Gabriel shrieked as he collapsed forward.

“Look!” Leviathan’s voice boomed.

“It can’t be…” Berith hissed.

“How?” Asmodeus whispered in horror.

Gabriel was destroyed, a sobbing wreck crowned by his once-more glorious wings.

Beelzebub was still standing. They were soaked through with holy water, and yet still stood. The demon looked at their shaking hands, and Gabriel crumpled in front of them. They looked over their shoulder and saw their brethren staring back in shock.

Lucifer was unmoved by the chaos. He leaned upon Beelzebub’s vacant throne with an unreadable smile.

“What  _ are  _ you?” Soneillon sneered, pale with fear.

Beelzebub slowly turned back to Gabriel in shock. This wasn’t what they had planned. The holy water was supposed to destroy them, free them of their obligation to Hell, and purify Gabriel so he couldn’t be corrupted to Fall. In no way had they planned to survive. They had been resigned to destruction.

Now what?

“Gabriel,” Beelzebub breathed.

The angel jerked up and saw Beelzebub. “Bee,” he gasped. “How--” He took a shuddering breath and his eyes widened in awe. “Your wings,” he whispered.

The demon hadn’t even realized they had become visible. They slowly turned their head to look. The holy water had stripped their wings of the black they had known for so many millennia and turned them a soft gray. Just as slowly, they turned wide eyes back on Gabriel.

“What doezz it mean…?” Beelzebub was at a total loss.

Gabriel choked on a sob and leapt to his feet, nearly bowling Beelzebub over with a tight hug. Just as quickly, he jerked back and grabbed Beelzebub by the shoulders and shook them. “How could you?!” he boomed. “You- you-” He choked on the words and hugged Beelzebub again.

“It doesn’t matter.” Leviathan was the first to recover from the shock. “We’ll find another way to destroy you. Seize them both!”

Beelzebub shoved Gabriel back and whirled on the Dark Council with a flick of their wings that sent holy water in all directions.

The princes who had been advancing swiftly recoiled and hid behind their thrones.

“He’zz mine!” Beelzebub shouted. “You can’t have him!” The demon glared at the princes with fire in their ice-blue eyes. Beelzebub may have been at a loss as to why they had survived being drenched in holy water, an impossible task even for the traitors who had tricked the forces of Hell, but they knew what to do now. “You’ll have to get through me firzzt. And God only knows what I’m capable of now.” A sick smile twisted on their lips. The shock was swiftly replaced with adrenaline and an unleashed desire to exact a painful death for each and every one of the princes who had tormented them.

Lucifer raised a hand and the court grew still. A tense silence reigned as the Morning Star descended from the dais. A sharp intake of breath from the Dark Council punctuated the Infernal King’s descent into the ankle-deep holy water that covered the floor.

Beelzebub was filled with cold dread as Lucifer advanced. Their fellow princes of Hell, they could manage. But Satan himself? Their miraculous survival was meaningless in the face of the Devil’s wrath.

Lucifer loomed over both Beelzebub and Gabriel. The angel steeled himself and stepped forward bravely to stand at his beloved’s side. Lucifer paid him no mind.

“It appears the corruption worked both ways,” Lucifer mused. “I thought as much when your eyes returned to that beautiful blue once more…” The devil smiled, but it did not inspire Beelzebub or Gabriel with any hope. “Hmm…” Lucifer’s posture relaxed, a thoughtful finger gone to his lips. “Hmm-hahaha!” The Infernal King’s laughter chilled every drop of blood, rattled every bone. “You tasted the angel’s blood. Didn’t you?”

Beelzebub stared up at Lucifer, wide-eyed but stoic in the face of yet another avenue of destruction. Their mind whirred, visited by memories of a drop of Gabriel’s blood singing their lips from too-sharp kisses--that awful time they had failed to make Gabriel feel safe, they had drawn blood, and soothed it away with their tongue--and all those years ago, while tending to Gabriel’s ruined back…

“Hmm… So it does build up a tolerance. Well,” Lucifer turned toward the horrified princes of Hell, “not angel blood  _ alone,  _ mind you. Don’t go getting any ideas. Our darling Beelzebub has been well and truly corrupted. How disappointing.” Those blood-red eyes of menace returned to Beelzebub. “You were so very good at your job…” 

Something about Beelzebub’s speechlessness and the shock writ subtle on their face amused Lucifer. “Did you not know that you were immune?” The Great Beast’s eyes flashed with intrigue. “Oh, you  _ meant  _ to be destroyed. All to save  _ him. _ ” Lucifer looked at Gabriel, a depraved hunger in his eyes. “All for  _ love. _ ” The last word came out low and flat as a funeral bell.

The devil suddenly became bored. “You disappoint me, Beelzebub. Sacrificing yourself for love?” He clicked his tongue with a regret. “No wonder holy water cannot touch you. An abomination like you cannot exist in Hell,” Lucifer said calmly.

Beelzebub stared up at Lucifer and barely dared to breathe. Lucifer could strike them both down with a touch of his finger, a breath of a whim. But he hadn’t yet. Beelzebub still had a chance. They could do only one thing, but what did it matter now, at the brink of total destruction?

“I resign,” Beelzebub said sharply. They ripped the sash from their chest and threw it at the ground. 

Lucifer smiled.

Beelzebub stared at Lucifer with wide eyes, then grabbed Gabriel’s hand. Together, the former archangel and the former Lord of Hell ascended.


	18. An Undisclosed Location

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beelzebub and Gabriel take a much needed vacation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I absolutely based this on [that picture of Jon Hamm hahaha.](https://c10.patreonusercontent.com/3/eyJwIjoxfQ%3D%3D/patreon-media/p/post/31823656/f2553683f746409eaefb00bf5fc35c7a/1.jpg?token-time=1576454400&token-hash=6XcbUmBjkj_Bj51LcXOQ-E48aljtI_XzwPwlaG3P9iw%3D)

“You really are fucked in the head, you know that?”

Gabriel looked up from his book and over at Beelzebub. They were stretched out in the shade of a large umbrella. His smile could hardly contain his fondness. “What?” he indulged and lifted his book. “Too soon?”

Beelzebub leered at the cover of ‘The Inferno’ with a scowl and adjusted their sunglasses. “Rather put that zzhit behind uzz.”

The sun blazed above over a pristine beach of white sand. Water lapped lazily at the shore. Gulls loped and called above. Paradise. Gabriel and Beelzebub shared a large umbrella, the former basking in the sun bare-chested in a pair of swim-trunks, the latter draped in the shade in a daring two-piece, stark black against their milky-pale skin.

Gabriel kept his place in the book with his finger and leaned over to kiss Beelzebub’s cheek. “Still getting used to being kicked out of the house, hm?”

Beelzebub bristled and sank deeper into their beach chair. They busied themself with their coconut cocktail, sucking noisily at the straw.

“Just enjoy it,” Gabriel insisted. “At least for now.”

Beelzebub shot Gabriel a look as they abandoned the straw. Instead, they sank their teeth sharply into the coconut itself, ripping a chunk of flesh and savage shard of shell from it as easily as biting into a chunk of chocolate.

Gabriel watched, brows slowly narrowing over his horn-rimmed sunglasses. “Is that even edible?”

“Partially,” Beelzebub replied, teeth gnashing on the shell.

In the days since they had miraculously ascended from Hell, any talk of what had transpired, what Beelzebub had planned, their intentions, had been banished. The former Lord of Hell absolutely refused to speak on the matter. Gabriel could see all too easily that it was not because of a lack of emotion, but an overabundance of it. It kept Gabriel up at night--not that sleep had been anything more than a hobby, rather than a habit--to think of how Beelzebub could trudge forward day after day. The betrayal stung, the present knowledge that Beelzebub had spent twenty years secretly manipulating his Messages from God, but not nearly as painfully as the twist in his heart to think of his beloved facing their impending destruction with every passing day.

Gabriel feared that Beelzebub would never be ready to face it. “You know,” he said as he leaned on the arm of his beach chair toward the demon. “I’m only reading it to understand Hell better. Since you won’t talk about what happened.”

Beelzebub spit a piece of coconut shell at Gabriel, and it glanced off his sunglasses. With a grunt, the demon slumped back in their chair. “Need another drink,” they muttered, dangling their empty coconut shell with a bite taken out of it toward Gabriel expectantly.

Gabriel put down his book. His hand crept over to where Beelzebub’s free hand hung limply over the arm of their chair, taking their fingers in his own. “Why don’t we go for a walk?” he suggested.

Beelzebub’s fingers tensed in Gabriel’s. They had spent so long anticipating his hurt, his hatred, that every touch from the angel prickled with uncertainty. They were waiting for the axe to fall, for Gabriel’s  _ true  _ intent to show through. But the former archangel had been nothing if not patient. It made Beelzebub feel ill.

“Never underzztand your fondnezz for… exercizze,” Beelzebub grumbled, fingers slowly relaxing.

Gabriel brought Beelzebub’s limp hand to his lips. “How else would I stay fit for your taste in strenuous activities?”

This brought a snort of laughter out of the demon, and their head lolled lazily toward Gabriel. They untangled their fingers from Gabriel’s and reached for his sunglasses, dragging them off his face, and tossing them carelessly away. It seemed like a silly, petty way to pick on Gabriel, but Beelzebub just wanted to see those eyes. Soft lavender gazed at him with all the patience in the world.

Beelzebub might have thought they could hide that little look of relief behind their own dark glasses, but Gabriel saw it plain as day. He was not as skilled with subtly of emotion, and his smile broadened obviously. “Come on,” Gabriel insisted and stood up.

Beelzebub resisted with a buzz, but Gabriel grabbed them by the wrist and hauled them to their feet. Gabriel loved the way Beelzebub wore their swimsuit--it was absolutely sexy, but as always, Beelzebub had a devil-may-care way of wearing themself.

“Here.” Gabriel grabbed his discarded button-up shirt he had worn down to the beach from their villa.

“What am I supposed to do with that?” Beelzebub asked.

“Wear it,” Gabriel said plainly. “To keep the sun off your lovely skin.”

“Demonzz don’t zzunburn…” Beelzebub protested.

“How do you know that?” Gabriel quipped. He draped the shirt over Beelzebub’s shoulders insistently.

The demon didn’t like being ordered around, but being “forced” to wear Gabriel’s shirt was a small demand. With a grumble, they shoved their arms through the sleeves. “We’re going for a walk to get more drinkzz, right?” Beelzebub grumbled.

“We’ll get there,” Gabriel said lightly with that smile that rivaled the sun.

Beelzebub let out an annoyed sigh, but stomped through the sand after Gabriel all the same. The angel kept walking toward the lap of the tide until Beelzebub was half-convinced he was just going to walk into the sea. Once the soft-packed sand recently visited by the tongues of waves was under their feet, Gabriel began to walk down the shore. Beelzebub was less inclined to get their feet wet.

“You’re not going to melt,” Gabriel said and reached for the demon’s hand. Beelzebub relented begrudgingly, stumbling forward to take the angel’s hand. “It’s not holy water.” Those lavender eyes stared down at Beelzebub as Gabriel brought their fingers to his lips. “Even if it was,” Gabriel smirked, “you’re invincible.”

Any mention of that fateful moment, when they had surrendered to destruction, made Beelzebub feel as though their insides had been scraped out.

Gabriel was accustomed to Beelzebub’s hollow silence. “Looks like we’re back to square one,” he said mildly.

Beelzebub looked up at Gabriel from under the wide brim of their hat, eyes obscured by large bug-like lenses.

“With the war.” Gabriel gave a chagrined smile. “Well, more or less.”

Beelzebub hadn’t even thought about the war, and that shocked them. If they were honest with themself, the war had been relegated to the back of their mind for a while now. It had been building for so long that the business of it ran like clockwork. Beelzebub had been consumed with the final blow to Gabriel’s holy record, his promised Fall, and the suicidal plan they had set into motion. The suicidal plan they had been prepared for, that had failed.

“How’zz that?” Beelzebub muttered.

“The position of Lord of Hell is vacant, if you hadn’t heard,” Gabriel teased. “I got a commendation,” he added with a little spring in his step. “For  _ unseating  _ the vile Lord of Hell,” he intoned in a gravely voice.

Beelzebub snorted. “Really.”

Gabriel squeezed the demon’s hand. “The report from Hell states that…  _ I  _ was the one who summoned the holy water.”

Beelzebub remained silent. A breeze carried from the sea, ruffling the loose, oversize shirt around their upper thighs. They clutched their hat to keep it from being blown away, to keep it shading their face.

“Where did you even get that much holy water?” Gabriel asked, forcing light, genuine curiosity in his tone. Perhaps if he could circle around the topic, Beelzebub would finally discuss it.

Beelzebub sighed. Gabriel wouldn’t let it go. They knew he would keep attempting to broach the subject. It had been a few days, and Gabriel had done damn near everything to provide whatever they desired, to care for them in their emotionally catatonic state. He had shown the patience of a saint, as was befitting a former archangel, in the face of Beelzebub’s refusal to discuss what had happened. But the demon could  _ feel  _ Gabriel’s melancholy, his deep-seated sadness, wormed away in his chest.

“I… procured it from churches.” Beelzebub would admit that much, but they didn’t want to admit they had  _ requested  _ it from priests. It was bad enough that they had gone to such lengths to save their idiot angel, much less how politely they had been forced to do it.

“You stole it?” Gabriel frowned.

Beelzebub’s fingers squeezed vice-like against Gabriel’s and grit their teeth. “No,” they growled. “Don’t think stolen holy water stays holy.”

“Ow,” Gabriel complained and tried to stretch his fingers free of the demon’s merciless grip. “Huh. I didn’t think of that.”

“You’re zztu--”

“You’re pretty clever,” Gabriel steamrolled over Beelzebub’s usual insult.

The demon’s jaw relaxed a fraction, but they didn’t deign the comment worthy of anything more.

“I didn’t think demons could enter churches. Sacred ground and all.”

“It’zz not pleazzant.”

Gabriel looked down at Beelzebub. “What do you mean?”

Beelzebub was disgusted by the concern creeping into Gabriel’s voice. “It zzort of… burnzz.”

Gabriel ran his thumb over the back of Beelzebub’s hand with a frown. “Did they, um… think it was odd, you asking for that much holy water?”

Beelzebub scowled at the beautiful beach ahead. “I didn’t get all of it from one church, numbzzkull.” Gabriel kept listening, waiting for them to go on. With a little frustrated sigh, Beelzebub relented. “I got it from dozens of churchezz. Over the yearzz.”

Gabriel’s eyes widened. Dozens of churches.  _ Years. _ This was not some impulsive last ditch effort Beelzebub had concocted. It was a carefully planned, meticulously executed scheme. They had lived with the knowledge that they were going to destroy themself to save him for  _ years. _ His heart ached.

“Bee…”

Beelzebub’s frame spiked with annoyance at the pity in that single syllable.

“How could you bear it?”

“I was dezztroying you, why not myzzelf.”

“But that’s--that’s even worse,” Gabriel moaned. He stopped walking, turned to face the demon, and took their other hand. “I don’t know how you could bear it. But  _ why?  _ Why… why do all of this?”

Beelzebub stared resolutely at the ground. The breeze picked up and snatched the hat from their head. They felt trapped, even with the expanse of sea and sand all around them. They had been running for so long. From the demands of the Dark Council, from Lucifer’s expectations, from Gabriel’s concern. The demon was so tired.

“I couldn’t protect you from Heaven. I couldn’t deny the Dark Council their demandzz. I couldn’t ezzcape.”

Gabriel’s heart was a raw and fragile thing as Beelzebub finally let him see what they had been hiding all these years. Beelzebub had been the helpless one, imprisoned by their station, by their damned emotions, by Gabriel’s persistent love.

“There wazz only one thing for it.”

Gabriel let go of Beelzebub’s hands, and they dropped abandoned to their sides. He scooped up the demon’s fragile face, took off their sunglasses. Beelzebub stared back with a vacant, defeated look.

“I would have Fallen for you, Bee.”

“Would you?” Beelzebub snapped. “Don’t be zztupid, Gabriel.”

In his heart of hearts, Gabriel knew that his love for God was above all else. He would not have Fallen gladly. But he never would have wished so much anguish upon Beelzebub for the sake of saving him. He would have rather been destroyed than go on in eternal existence without them.

“It would have been easier for me to Fall. You didn’t have to-- to try to  _ destroy  _ yourself just to save me.”

“You don’t underzztand,” Beelzebub growled. “If you had Fallen,” passion crept into their voice, and they smothered it with a sigh, “... it would have changed you.”

“Into a demon, yes. But I meant it--I would come back to you. Nothing could change--”

“You’re wrong!” the demon snapped. They took a steadying breath. “You wouldn’t be… you.”

Realization slowly took hold of Gabriel. It wasn’t just foolish martyrdom on Beelzebub’s part, or some sense of obligation, or to avoid making good on their promise over the years to destroy Gabriel if he Fell. Beelzebub had chosen destruction over an eternity where Gabriel wasn’t himself anymore. If Gabriel wasn’t the angel they loved, existence was meaningless.

The angel was speechless. He knew Beelzebub loved him, but he had never known the depth of that love. Beelzebub obscured it from his view, kept it disguised under the insults and cruelty that came naturally to them.

Gabriel pulled Beelzebub into his arms. What could he say in the face of that kind of admission of love? Every word that had ever been spoken paled in comparison to the sacrificial act Beelzebub had resolved to execute.

Gabriel’s love was more radiant than the tropical sun, but it didn’t burn like it had in the past. It sank into Beelzebub’s bones, filled them, made them whole. For the first time since they had ascended from Hell for the last time, Beelzebub took a breath and released the tension that had restricted their chest. Their hands moved slowly up Gabriel’s back, and they melted into his chest, finally free of that impending doom. It consumed them, this new freedom, they were drowning in it, and a new kind of panic bloomed and rattled against their ribs.

“I love you,” Gabriel whispered, hoping to still Beelzebub’s panicked heart pounding against his own.

Beelzebub’s breath caught. “... Am I worthy?”

Gabriel gasped on a surprised laugh that stuck in his throat. “Yes,” he breathed and drew back. Beelzebub had the strangest look on their face--that same look of fear and dread they’d worn in the moments before the holy water rained down. “Yes, I-- I would stop the next Great War, a thousand Great Wars, if it meant loving you for eternity.”

Beelzebub’s brow tightened, narrowed as if to shield themself from the intensity of Gabriel’s confession. The only way to purge the overwhelming emotion was to spit out a laugh. “Zzhut up,” they growled through a begrudging smile.

Gabriel found himself able to smile again. He kissed Beelzebub, relieved but buzzing with such great love, he thought he might burst. The former Lord of Hell took to the kiss passionately, grabbing hold of the back of Gabriel’s neck.

By the time the angel and demon could finally bear to part their lips, they had sunk ankle-deep into the sand laced with the tide.

“How about that drink?” Gabriel offered.

“Back at the villa,” Beelzebub said with a glint in their eye.


	19. Belladonna and Eros

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel takes advantage of some of the powers awarded to him for his commendation, and Beelzebub reaps the reward. (Double Gabriel x Beelzebub smut.)

Given Gabriel’s proclivities for the finer things on Earth, it came as no surprise that he had arranged for them to stay at a villa that boasted a private beach, many more bedrooms than they would have use for--well, unless Beelzebub had anything to say about it once they were free from their emotional constipation--and more footage of deck space than half the other villas’  _ interior  _ square footage on the island. Beelzebub was not one to complain.

Beelzebub swore if they weren’t holding Gabriel’s hand, the angel very well would have floated away with how buoyed he was from their conversation. Despite their new tumult of untethered thoughts, Beelzebub found themself lightened of some of the burden they had been carrying.

The pair walked up the steps onto the lower deck, and Gabriel wheeled around to take Beelzebub by the front of their borrowed shirt, kissing them soundly. “Cosmopolitan?” he asked with a knowing grin.

Beelzebub shoved him back and walked around to open the glass door to the villa. “I’ll take it upzztairzz,” they muttered.

Gabriel trailed behind as Beelzebub shrugged off the shirt and let it fall to the floor. His hands found their narrow middle, so little left to the imagination in that tempting bikini.

“I’m going to change,” Beelzebub said.

One of Gabriel’s hands drifted up Beelzebub’s spine to toy with the lower tie of their bathing suit. “Oh? I was thinking I could help you out of this little number…”

Beelzebub turned sharply and grabbed Gabriel’s wrist with a cruel grip. “I had zzomething elzze in mind.”

Gabriel winced as Beelzebub’s hand wrenched his wrist, but the expression softened curiously. “I dread to think of what could be better than this,” he said as he drank in all of Beelzebub wearing so little. He was especially fond of the way their barely-there bottoms cupped their cock between pale thighs.

Beelzebub’s lips curled into a dangerous smile. “You’ll zzee.” They tossed Gabriel’s wrist away and turned on their heel.

Gabriel felt the fire of Beelzebub’s promise go straight to his loins. The view as Beelzebub strode away from him didn’t do anything to abate his now rabid anticipation. Gabriel only managed to drag his gaze away when Beelzebub disappeared up the stairs with much more swaying of hips than absolutely necessary.

Beelzebub had been distant since they ascended from Hell. Gabriel had worried over how best to care for them in these difficult times. It was a lot to process--the knowledge that Beelzebub had been willing to obliviate themself, and then to live through the ordeal, not to mention that Beelzebub had been actively working to make him Fall. The latter he could forgive them for. But the former? He, too, had been disconsolate, fighting to bite back his feelings in lieu of Beelzebub’s hollow, overwrung state.

Gabriel felt satisfied with the conversation they finally had--albeit, the first of many, he was sure. Beelzebub was not so easily cured of their moods, nor was Gabriel healed of his own hurt. But, at the very least, they had reconnected to a stage where the spark had ignited once more. Gabriel had served Beelzebub’s silent need for space and time to coalesce in the wake of their aborted suicide. Now he would serve his beloved, revel in their newfound freedom together.

When Gabriel finished making their drinks, Beelzebub was already waiting for him on the opulent cushions on the upper deck. The sun was glaring and golden, halfway to the westward horizon. Gabriel walked around the circular sofa on the deck and nearly dropped the drinks as he saw what Beelzebub was wearing.

The former Lord of Hell looked at him boredly. They had changed into something ‘more comfortable.’ Namely, a very lacy and strappy number of soft lavender. Their small breasts were held in floral lace, adorned with straps that framed the lines of their lithe body. Stripes of pale purple crept up their hips, cupped their soft cock in a pocket of lace. Their legs were thinly veiled in more of Gabriel’s favorite color, thighs crested with more lace.

Beelzebub held out an expectant hand. Gabriel handed them their drink numbly. “Appropriately lacy?” Beelzebub asked, unable to quell the smirk on their lips as Gabriel gaped.

Gabriel fought to get his tongue in working order as he handed Beelzebub their cocktail. “Y-ygh… Yes,” he finally managed.

Beelzebub took their cocktail with languid ease and sank back into the cushions. Gabriel kept staring. The demon’s brow narrowed they buzzed in irritation. “Pick your jaw off the floor, or make better uzze of it,” they snapped.

Gabriel’s jaw tensed to ensure he wasn’t gaping and he sank onto the edge of the couch. “You just look… so beautiful,” he said quietly. He didn’t even have the sense to look sappy about it.

Beelzebub kicked Gabriel with a stockinged toe. The angel caught their foot and Beelzebub threatened to kick him harder. Gabriel put his drink down on the deck gingerly and pulled Beelzebub’s foot toward himself. He lifted that slender leg and kissed Beelzebub’s toes. Every part of his beloved was precious, especially when dressed in such tempting wrapping.

“This color…” he whispered as he dragged lips up their ankle.

“The color of belladonna,” Beelzebub sneered, though their toes curled under Gabriel’s soft touch.

Gabriel had a moment’s pause against Beelzebub’s calf, then laughed, setting a shiver down Beelzebub’s thigh. “Deadly nightshade. Of course.”

Beelzebub grinned and took a sip of their cocktail.

Gabriel continued kissing up Beelzebub’s thigh, stopping short of the hem of their stocking. Beelzebub’s contented expression pinched as Gabriel abandoned their thigh in favor of their lips. But they found it difficult to deny the pleasure of those lips claiming their own, pressing them back, tilting their neck against the cushions.

“I don’t know if there’s enough of me to appreciate all of…  _ this, _ ” Gabriel breathed against Beelzebub’s lips with a decidedly sultry smile.

Beelzebub nearly spilled their cocktail as they felt a pair of hands suddenly slide over their shoulders from behind, fearlessly passing over their collar to palm their breasts. They looked up sharply and saw the mirror image of their lover standing behind the back of the couch. Beelzebub shot the Gabriel in front of them a look.

Gabriel grinned. “Commendation comes with some of my powers,” he said lightly.

Beelzebub buzzed with pleasure as the second Gabriel groped their breasts with hands that knew their body just as well as the original. “That’zz a good trick,” Beelzebub purred.

“Many hands make light work,” Gabriel murmured and went to kiss the demon.

Beelzebub held him off so they could down their cocktail. In usual fashion, they rid themself of the glass with a careless toss. It crashed somewhere on the deck. With their hands free, they dragged Gabriel into a kiss with demanding hands on his bare shoulders.

The Gabriel on top of them grabbed Beelzebub by their narrow waist, his touch possessive and warm. The Gabriel behind continued to treat Beelzebub’s breasts, earning a moan as he fingered their nipples through the sheer lace. With a heated breath, Beelzebub broke from Gabriel’s lips and threw their head back. The angel dove into the demon’s exposed throat, while the other Gabriel bent down to replace their doppelganger’s lips. Beelzebub gripped one of the Gabriel’s hair with one hand, while the other hand found the same place on the secondary angel.

Gabriel devoured Beelzebub’s throat and moaned softly as he felt a stockinged thigh curl around his hips, drawing him closer. The demon’s nails raked through his hair, and Gabriel could feel their other hand doing the same to his other corporation.

With a growl, Beelzebub pulled the secondary Gabriel back from their lips. Their gaze lingered, and Gabriel drank in their smile. With a flash of those startlingly blue eyes, they grabbed the Gabriel at their neck by the shoulder and lunged at him, shoving him back onto the generous couch. The angel looked dazzled as Beelzebub mounted him, more feminine and beautiful than he had ever seen them, but no less dominating. The former Lord of Hell gave Gabriel a hungry look, then peered over their shoulder and crooked a finger at the other Gabriel. The second corporation needed no more invitation to crawl onto the couch behind Beelzebub.

As the secondary Gabriel crept up behind them, Beelzebub sat proudly and curled a welcoming hand into his hair, drawing him to their neck. The prone Gabriel sat up slowly and Beelzebub ran an appreciative hand down his tense abs, nails whispering over his skin. Gabriel met their lips again and slid his hands up their thighs, exploring the straps that met their panties.

Gabriel had been too weak in his powers to do something like this since his punishment, and Beelzebub had never been so cruel to challenge him to do so. But shit, they had thought of it. Gabriel fucking them with two cocks had been the closest they’d ever gotten, but now they had two mouths, two sets of hands worshipping them. They were driven wild by all those broad, wandering hands pinching their nipples and teasing around their groin.

Gabriel pulled Beelzebub’s hips against his own, and just as eagerly, the other Gabriel angled their hips back, grinding a firm cock against their lacy ass.

“Here I thought I was going to have to make you grovel for the pleazzure of zzeeing me like thizzz,” Beelzebub buzzed. Their hands found Gabriel’s face in front of them and they kissed him sweetly.

The Gabriel behind the demon bit their neck and made Beelzebub suck in a breath and rock their hips back against him. Not to be outdone, the Gabriel before them palmed Beelzebub’s lace-covered cock and the former Lord of Hell keened with delight. “ _ I’ve pleased you, Ba’al _ ?” the two Gabriels whispered in unison.

Beelzebub laughed and rocked their hips from one Gabriel to the other. They moaned, one after the other, and Beelzebub couldn’t be happier. “Mmm… tempted to make you fuck each other,” Beelzebub husked.

Gabriel looked at his copy, and the other Gabriel shrugged.

Beelzebub shot a look over their shoulder at the second Gabriel. “Don’t get any ideazz,” they buzzed. “I zzaid  _ tempted. _ ” The demon held Gabriel’s gaze until the angel realized he had been neglecting the demon of his touch.

Beelzebub leaned back against the second Gabriel’s strong chest and allowed themself, for once, to enjoy his embrace. The original Gabriel could see the contentment written subtle as their despair it replaced. He and his twin’s hands switched places, his corporation in front coming forward to press a kiss between their breasts as he squeezed the swells adorned in lace. From behind, Gabriel devoured the offered stretch of Beelzebub’s neck as his hands dragged hungrily down their taut thighs.

Beelzebub had never had any use for the word ‘safe.’ They never felt safe. Safe implied fear, and the former Lord of Hell had never been afraid of anything. Well, except the one thing. Gabriel’s safety. They cringed at the mere thought, but the unpleasantness of the sentiment was washed away by Gabriel’s twin lips and multitude of hands. They had no concept of the word ‘safe’ in relation to themself. But here, wrapped up in two sets of strong arms, two sets of loving lips marking their flesh in the only acceptable form of tenderness Beelzebub could tolerate, the demon felt  _ safe. _

Beelzebub growled encouragingly as Gabriel’s hands slid along their inner thighs, meanwhile Gabriel pulled aside the lacy fabric to greet their dark-rose nipple. They canted their hips toward Gabriel’s wandering touch, but the angel only traced designs along the bare flesh between stockings and panties. His teeth sank into their neck as another pair captured their nipple, and even the ever-composed demon couldn’t restrain the loud moan or the almost violent arch of their body.

The demon was enveloped in the sound of Gabriel’s quiet amusement, a husky chuckle in their ear, followed by a tongue, a warm breath against their hard nipple, intensified by the resulting hum of pleasure and that hot mouth taking as much of their breast as it could. Their cock strained against its lace prison, and Beelzebub commanded the Gabriel behind them wordlessly with a low groan and the temptation of their ass grinding against his cock.

The Gabriel at their ear nuzzled into their hair, then to the back of their neck, forcing Beelzebub into the Gabriel in front of them. Beelzebub’s breath hitched as Gabriel kissed the nape of their neck--a place of particular sensitivity. The Lord of Hell turned their back on no one. To be kissed in that vulnerable place was a rare treat, one that usually earned Gabriel a wrestling match to put Beelzebub back on top. The demon’s hands tensed on Gabriel’s shoulders with a warning of nails.

But it felt good. Beelzebub had felt so powerless and vulnerable in ways they could not describe. It had made them more domineering, more demanding. As if Gabriel knew, he kept kissing that guarded place until he heard the demon actually  _ whimper. _ The angel’s head lifted from their chest to catch a glimpse of that mythical vulnerability, then captured it with a kiss to their lips. Beelzebub’s fingers clawed at Gabriel’s hair, in anger and in passion. They hated to surrender that tiny weakness in them, but they loved that Gabriel was enough of an asshole to draw it out of them.

In an orchestrated motion, Gabriel kept his lips locked with Beelzebub’s and lay back on the cushions while the other Gabriel continued his path down the demon’s spine. His hands held Beelzebub’s hips firmly, keeping their thighs hiked up. The position prevented Beelzebub from any friction against their straining cock that had pushed past the waistband of their lacy undergarment, and the demon let their frustration be known against Gabriel’s lips.

The angel below only smiled as their lips parted and demands buzzed almost-spoken on Beelzebub’s lips. Before they could sneer at Gabriel for teasing them, they felt familiar fingers stroke between the cleft of their ass to their soaked crotch. They arched with a grateful moan and the Gabriel beneath them took the opportunity to encourage the demon’s body further. The soft hand that cradled their neck wrapped around their throat, firm and possessive. He could feel them buzz against the palm of their hand as he returned his attention to their bare breast, dragging his teeth over the soft flesh.

Beelzebub had thought this little outfit would be a gift for Gabriel, to leverage him to do whatever they pleased. (They certainly hadn’t done it to be  _ nice  _ to Gabriel or  _ thank  _ him. They may have resigned from the post of Lord of Hell, but they were still a demon for fuck’s sake.) Their plan had some rope involved, letting Gabriel look but not touch, but…  _ This. _ They were drowning, swiftly losing even the nerve to care about their composure.

“You’ve already soaked through your panties, Ba’al.” Beelzebub had expected the secondary Gabriel to sound different somehow. But it was that same voice, warm as brass in the sun, textured with the rumbling quality of his arousal. Their adam’s apple bobbed against Gabriel’s palm as the other Gabriel pressed and rubbed at their cunt, just enough to set their nerves alight, but not enough to relieve the desperate  _ need. _

“I thought I would prepare you with my tongue,” Gabriel husked against their chest.

“No need,” the other Gabriel chimed in, as if they were of the same mind, not two separate corporations. “The lace is all dark from how wet you are.” He slid his fingers up toward Beelzebub’s arsehole, then down over their wet mound, giving their clit just a touch. It was enough to make Beelzebub start and rock their hips back, seeking out the angel’s hand. But his hand had moved to stroke over the lovely curve of their upturned ass.

“Gabriel…” Beelzebub growled as they shot a dangerous leer down at the Gabriel beneath them.

The angel dragged his teeth over Beelzebub’s still-covered breast that had yet to be lavished with attention. “What?” the angel asked with a dark, sultry look in his eyes. He gave Beelzebub’s throat a strong squeeze and they shivered.

“If you don’t fucking eat me out…” they threatened.

“Oh, I wouldn’t deny you, my love,” Gabriel said from behind Beelzebub.

“I know how much you like my tongue,” Gabriel whispered against the demon’s chest.

Beelzebub felt Gabriel’s finger slide under the hem of their panties over their ass, hooking the narrow length of fabric aside. They couldn’t restrain the wanton angle of their hips, offering themself to the Gabriel behind them while pressing their chest against the Gabriel beneath them.

Gabriel felt Beelzebub’s throat tighten in his grip as his second corporation dipped low and his warm breath ghosted over Beelzebub’s cunt. The angel indulged his demon with a generous lick from clit to arsehole. If he teased Beelzebub any further, he feared they would get violent. A ravenous Beelzebub was a dangerous thing.

Beelzebub moaned loudly and snapped Gabriel’s wrist in a tight grip where it was wrapped around their slender neck. Gabriel’s tongue doted on Beelzebub’s flushed, puffy arousal, and the demon’s groans came strained as Gabriel’s strong grip constricted their throat. That firm grip, the trust imbued in the bruising hold, made Beelzebub feel safe.

“You taste so good,” the Gabriel beneath the demon husked. Beelzebub could say nothing around the hoarse breaths and moans pulled from them by the Gabriel serving their cunt, but they slapped their free hand over Gabriel’s mouth to stop him from talking.

Gabriel rarely got to see Beelzebub like this, and never from so many angles. It was a strange sensation, to be aware of both his own sight and that of his doppelganger, but no stranger than his usual celestial awareness, only on a much more intimate scale. He could feel the things his copy felt, taste what they tasted, see what they saw. From his other eyes, he saw Beelzebub’s cunt glistening and trembling for him, thighs taut under belladonna-purple stockings, the demon’s back arched, their neck angled and collared by his own hand. He could see his own cock rock hard below Beelzebub’s dripping sex just as well as he could feel the needy arousal between his other corporation’s legs.

When he got to see Beelzebub so lost in pleasure, so beautifully ruined, he was usually restrained in some way, or too far in his own fervor to really appreciate it. In Beelzebub’s recent flashes of vulnerability, they had been in a dark place, seeking out punishment for a crime Gabriel had been unaware of. They looked so free now--they looked safe, Gabriel realized, for the first time in two decades.

Gabriel’s other corporation spread Beelzebub open, tonguing the pucker of flesh above their cunt and Beelzebub shook with want. The demon’s hand slid from Gabriel’s mouth as they collapsed against his shoulder, gasping harshly for breath and sinking teeth into the cords of his neck. Both Gabriels moaned in chorus, and the angel moved his hand from around their neck into their hair, gripping tightly.

Beelzebub twisted their head to feel the pull of Gabriel’s hand in their hair. The tingle of the tear of their scalp only intensified the delicious pleasure of Gabriel’s tongue rimming their arsehole. The demon grabbed at Gabriel’s free hand and brought it to their lips, biting hard at his fingers. “ _ Pleazze… _ ” they moaned.

Gabriel had never heard Beelzebub beg for him without being forced to. But he was in no state to be surprised. He wanted only to provide his lover the pleasure they so desperately wanted. “Bee,” he moaned and dragged their lips to his own with a pull of their hair.

Gabriel used his second corporation to stroke himself and groaned at the bizarre sensation. It both was and was not his own hand that led his cock to Beelzebub’s slick sex. The demon angled their hips with a breathless gasp of anticipation, even before Gabriel’s thick cockhead touched them. Beelzebub pushed themself from Gabriel’s chest to seat fully on his cock and groaned.

Gabriel watched as Beelzebub shuddered and came, their cock still pinned in lace, untouched. He groaned, the demon’s pulsing orgasm tightening their cunt around him, and grabbed their hips, bottoming out as deep as he could physically go.

Beelzebub reeled from the orgasm, braced by shaking arms against Gabriel’s strong abdomen. And then there was a Gabriel behind them, holding them around the waist, pressing that strong frame against their back. A choked sob of pleasure escaped the demon as they sank into his embrace. They had never wanted so badly to be held, to be doted on. Gabriel did this to them. Every time they felt these undemonic urges, it was Gabriel’s fault.

Gabriel kissed their shoulder with a sympathetic groan from the pleasure of the other corporation’s cock sheathed inside Beelzebub. The demon turned to catch Gabriel’s lips and grabbed at his hair, dragging him into a deeper crush of lips. Gabriel’s copied cock rubbed against Beelzebub’s rear, grinding against the stretched lace.

Beelzebub’s hand twisted behind their back to rip the lace aside, baring their arsehole for the taking. Gabriel pressed his cock forward and whimpered as Beelzebub bit down on his lower lip. With a growl, he reclaimed the kiss, all teeth and ferocity. His hand left his cock, instead snapping up the demon’s wrist and wrenching their arm further behind their back.

With a gasp and a tear of lips, the former Lord of Hell was forced forward, the cock inside them dragging against their too-slick cunt, and they saw stars. Gabriel’s grip on their wrist was unrelenting, and Beelzebub glared at the smug Gabriel beneath them. The angel’s chest rose and fell heavily as his other corporation rubbed his cock against Beelzebub’s already filled hole. Gabriel’s free hands gripped their hips and forced the demon to bounce on his cock, drawing out strangled cries.

Beelzebub felt the other Gabriel’s cock rubbing their cunt as the Gabriel below them fucked them, and they wanted to beg, to tell him to get inside them already. But Gabriel was fucking them so beautifully just like this, their perfect angel knew just what they wanted. They buzzed, barely able to think any coherent thoughts, much less form any words, as they felt Gabriel’s hand on their throat again. They rolled into the touch like an animal in want of praise.

Gabriel’s cock threatened to leave their cunt and Beelzebub mewled in despair. Their lips fell open as they felt Gabriel’s other cock teasing their cunt, and they met the angel’s gaze. Gabriel wore that smoulder well, so full of desire, but of admiration, adoration, too. Without breaking his gaze, Gabriel slowly rose up on an elbow. He drank in Beelzebub’s lust, their sweet desperation, that sacred softness of them, willing and defeated in the palm of his hand.

Then both Gabriels moved in unison, both sliding inside their cunt, stretching them open and Beelzebub cried like a wounded animal.

“I love you,” Gabriel whispered in Beelzebub’s ear.

“You’re worthy,” Beelzebub heard husked against their other ear.

The demon trembled like a leaf as another orgasm crashed over them like a tidal wave. Gabriel had never made them so fragile, never pushed them to the brink of consciousness. Darkness threatened to take them as their thighs shook, but Gabriel’s lips brought them back, pressed hot and greedy against the nape of their neck, against their ear and over their temple. Gabriel’s thumb rubbed over their fluttering pulsepoint as a chorus of moans filled the air.

Beelzebub was afloat in the ecstasy. It felt as if Gabriel had them suspended in endless pleasure, cocks sliding in and out of their body, a corporation of pure sensation. The angel held them with strong, sure hands, and whispered words of encouragement against their flesh. The demon registered their body tensed and overwhelmed with another orgasm as Gabriel’s fingers pressed inside their unfilled entrance, but it was a mere blip in the tempest of hands and lips and whispers and shafts pumping in their body.

Beelzebub didn’t realize it, but they were smiling--that same blown-out smile Gabriel usually wore. “Look at how ruined you are,” Gabriel panted as he rocked up into Beelzebub.

“So beautiful,” the other groaned against the demon’s shoulder.

“Are you gonna…” Gabriel felt Beelzebub squeeze around his cock in slippery tandem with his other corporation’s, and he grunted from the intensity of it, “... come for me again?”

“Come for me, Bee,” Gabriel begged.

Gabriel’s voice was soft and beautiful, but it was all sensory to Beelzebub. They couldn’t make out the words, too overwhelmed by the jolts of pleasure from their cunt as Gabriel’s cocks dragged and bumped against every damned inch inside them. Gabriel stretched their arsehole with another finger and Beelzebub was coming again.

“Ohh, you’re so good,” Gabriel growled, his voice tight.

“You feel so good when you come like that,” the other Gabriel groaned.

“Are you ready for me?”

Beelzebub whimpered as a hand found their cock. They were barely at half-mast from their last orgasm, and the sudden, desperately wanted stimulation of their cock had them hard again. Their peak reached on into eternity, struck a sharp fever pitch as the demon felt both Gabriels coming inside them, filling them impossibly fuller. Lips and teeth and hands overstimulated their flesh, made their skin prickle, hot as Hellfire and burning like holy water. It felt like hours, Gabriel pumping them fuller and fuller, trapping them in a two-fold embrace they couldn’t escape. Didn’t want to escape. They would accept this new prison, wrapped up in Gabriel’s arms.

“Bee…”

Beelzebub’s arm ached from being wrenched behind their back for so long, but they dimly registered that it now hung limp at their side. Gabriel took the tingling hand in both of his own and brought it to his lips.

“You’re so beautiful now, you…” Gabriel took a deep breath, winded from his own intense orgasm, “you have no idea.”

Gabriel’s face slowly came into focus. Beelzebub’s numb fingers brushed over those generous lips. As their muscles gradually came back into their awareness, a surprised moan bubbled up. They were still seated on Gabriel’s cocks, though they were softening against their sore flesh.

“I’m going to pull out now,” Gabriel warned his lover. A strong arm wrapped around their waist, familiar hands steadying their hips. The second Gabriel withdrew with a soft sigh. Watching Beelzebub’s face twist in a grimace, Gabriel slid out. The demon was deliciously sore, but hated feeling so empty.

Beelzebub surprised Gabriel by falling against his chest. Gabriel fully expected, especially after being so overstimulated, their body ravaged of the touch they oft-times found so despicable, that Beelzebub would demand he get lost. Gabriel took full advantage of his vulnerable lover’s willingness and held them, but was not so foolish as to go overboard and let his other corporation take part.

The second Gabriel faded away with a soft smile identical to that of the original Gabriel.

Beelzebub’s tingling fingers wandered blindly up Gabriel’s neck.

“I’m here, Bee,” Gabriel whispered.

The former Lord of Hell smiled against Gabriel’s neck. “Zzafe,” they mumbled in return.


	20. Right Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gabriel and Beelzebub finally get their happily ever after.

The sun was setting by the time Beelzebub had even a scrap of their senses back. The cool air of twilight carried from the sea and chilled their almost-bare skin.

“What’zz that paperwork going to look like?” Beelzebub muttered with a smirk.

“Hm?” Gabriel had been looking at his lover resting against his side, chin tucked on his shoulder, but had been so lost in the vision that they hadn’t registered their words.

Beelzebub scowled at Gabriel for not paying attention, but the amusement of their own question brought on a smirk again. “Your zzecond corporation. How you gonna file that?”

Gabriel smiled easily. “Second corporation necessary to appropriately thwart the unseated Lord of Hell,” he said officiously.

Beelzebub barked out a laugh. “Think they’ll buy that?”

“I think Michael has learned his lesson about nosing about in my personal life.”

“Mm, but izzn’t that Zzandalphon a pervert?”

“Funny guy,” Gabriel sighed. “But Earth Observation isn’t his department.”

The mention of work and departments caused Beelzebub a pang of eternal obligation. And, with a sudden twist of their gut, they realized  _ that  _ was no longer their department. They didn’t have a department. No more court, no more office, no more… purpose.

Gabriel felt the subtle change in his mercurial lover. “Are you thinking about work?” Gabriel asked and kissed Beelzebub’s hair. Such was to be expected. Transitioning from millennia of holding the position of Lord of Hell to  _ not _ was sure to involve a hell of a lot of whiplash.

“No,” Beelzebub grumbled. Gabriel’s patient silence spoke louder than words. “... Yezz.”

“You resigned,” Gabriel murmured. “Not so bad as being fired. It’s unlikely they’ll need it to be any more official than that, hm? Sign a little exit paperwork and be done with it.”

Beelzebub tried to bite back the sigh that welled up in their chest. Instead, it just came out harsh and smothered against Gabriel’s neck.

The angel chuckled at the tickle to his throat and pulled Beelzebub closer, though the demon was already lying halfway on his chest.

“... Not the Lord of Hell anymore… Am I…” Beelzebub buzzed irritably against Gabriel’s skin. They hated these  _ feelings. _ But they couldn’t keep running from them. They couldn’t shut down on Gabriel. They had nowhere to go. “Am I even a demon anymore?” they muttered.

“Of course you’re still a demon. What else would you be?” Gabriel reassured them.

Beelzebub hid their face further against Gabriel’s neck with a quiet growl.

Gabriel narrowed his eyes at the sunset. “Did you… feel anything?” He had seen something--but not so clear as an image. It had been like a long-lost memory, sensory, not visual. A feeling of wonder, as old as time, a kind of innocent wonder he hadn’t felt since the Garden. A feeling of companionship, and a feeling of betrayal. A feeling of loss, like a premonition of what he almost lost.

“No,” Beelzebub lied. They didn’t want to admit what their last thoughts had been. They didn’t want to dredge up the memories. Thoughts from before the Fall had been sealed away for so long. Why remember the feelings of bliss and happiness they had forsaken? Why remember the heartbreak of being damned and cursed by the Creator?

“I felt something…” Gabriel murmured.

“Don’t care,” Beelzebub cut him off and pushed themself off his restful body.

“Bee,” Gabriel complained, “It was something important. Something important that I forgot…”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

Gabriel sat up slowly and skimmed his hand up Beelzebub’s spine. “You never want to talk about the important stuff.”

Beelzebub buzzed a warning and bristled to unsettle Gabriel’s wandering touch.

Determined as ever, Gabriel leaned over and kissed Beelzebub’s shoulder. “I love you. Even if you’re like talking to a brick wall.”

Beelzebub met Gabriel’s soft gaze with narrowed, irritated eyes, shining bright and blue in the last light of the day. Instead of rolling, they softened and flicked away. Beelzebub ran a nail over their stocking-covered calf. “I… don’t know where I belong now.”

“That’s easy,” Gabriel said immediately. He took Beelzebub by the chin and brought their lips together. “You belong right here. By my side.”

Beelzebub was wholly unprepared for the feeling that crashed over them. It was a sensation unlike anything they had felt in twenty years--no, in millennia, since time immemorial. It ached with the intensity of the dread they had felt with every tick of every second since they had been tasked to make Gabriel Fall. But instead of sucking them dry and leaving nothing but needling cold pricking their insides, it filled them up until they were fit to burst. Their corporation, the very world, seemed too warm and too soft. Gabriel was haloed by the setting sun, but its glory paled in comparison to the smile on Gabriel’s face, its warmth weak compared to basking in the life-giving glow of the words that came so easily, so sure, from his lips.

“Bee?” Gabriel asked softly. “You okay?”

Beelzebub forgot how to breathe. The first breath they took felt brand new, a shock to their insides, rebirth within an inhale. For the first time in as long as they could remember, they were able to say, “Yes. I’m okay.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> THE END!!
> 
> Wow, I really cannot believe what this project became. It was supposed to just be a little silly, smutty fic and it turned into my longest completed project ever. Thank you all for reading, for your comments and support. It really fueled my passion to write this, and to write in general. I so appreciate those of you who came back every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday to scream at me and heap your love.
> 
> I'm currently working on a heap of GO content that will be kept secret until Christmas, so look forward to that!! In the meantime... I've fallen hard into the Hazbin Hotel fandom, so if that's something that's also snagged you, check out what I have so far: [here there be asexual smut done right](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vol_ctrl/pseuds/vol_ctrl/works?fandom_id=20965191).
> 
> Subscribe to my handle so you don't miss a thing, or follow me on Twitter [@vol_ctrl](https://twitter.com/vol_ctrl) to get updates and more fandom garbage. ♥♥♥
> 
> Stay tuned, kittens ~

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Twitter [@vol_ctrl](https://twitter.com/vol_ctrl) for more Good Omens content, announcements when I drop new chapters and other fics, and info on early access chapters! 👀


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